


Re-Connections

by Kurapikababu



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, And by divergence I mean this story dances all around canon, Covers the entire Childhood Arc, Fix-It, Gen, I may have forgotten what it was but there IS a timeline. Somewhere., I promise there is, That was the whole point, There's a timeline, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, take canon and tear it a new one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-13
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-10-18 08:19:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 37,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10612941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kurapikababu/pseuds/Kurapikababu
Summary: If given another chance, would you take it?They each wake up as a child once more, only this time with the memories from being older. They don't know that the other two are have also woken up as children again.Each of the boys navigates their newfound situation with different determinations. One things for certain, the more things change, the more they stay the same.[I changed the summary because I didn't like the previous one. This one gives a better summary I think.]





	1. Intro: Sabo

Sabo bolted upright out of his sleep, his sweat causing his clothes to cling to him uncomfortably. He blinked as the light from the midday sun filtered in, blindingly bright. Groaning, he rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear away the last vestiges of his nightmare.

Ever since...the war, and getting his memories back, he’d been having nightmares regularly. Especially after the top officers of the Army had been made to go over the footage from the war.

But... it’d been over two years already, and these days, Koala was less inclined to forgive his sleeping in on account of bad dreams. He knew he’d better get up soon; the longer he stayed in bed, the more hell he’d have to pay later. Pushing his covers away, he went to sling his legs off the bed. Only, there was one problem with that.

There was no bed.

He’d slept on the floor. A rather dirty floor at that, too.

He widened his eyes, trying not to panic. Something was definitely not right, because he was _certain_ he’d been sleeping in his bed last night (Koala had seen to that after he’d tried to sneak a midnight snack from the kitchens).

When he thought he’d heard voices, he tried using his Observation Haki to feel around for them…only to find out he couldn’t use his Haki for some reason!

Now, he was about to panic. ‘What on earth-’

“Oi! Sabo! Are you awake yet?”

He looked up sharply. _That voice._ He stood up and slowly walked towards where the voice had come from, not particularly paying attention to his surroundings. He looked out the window, and sure enough... there, down below on the ground and waving his arms happily, like the excitable child that he was, was Luffy.

Before his mind could even begin to process what was going on, a blur of red came out from the bushes and towards Luffy.

_Bonk!_

“Dammit Luffy! How many times have we told you not to go rocketing off like that!?”

He froze at the second voice. This was really impossible. There was no way he was hearing _his_ voice again.  Before he could step back and try to go back to sleep (wake up?), Luffy was crying out.

“Oww!!! Sabo! Ace is being mean!” He looked like he was on the verge of tears.

“I am not! You just don’t listen!” Ace yelled at him, irritated.

Sabo didn’t react to either of them. He was still frozen in shock. The two boys continued bickering for a moment longer, when Ace realized Sabo hadn’t said anything at all.

“Oi. What are you just staring for?” Ace asked him sharply. Sabo blinked and finally snapped out of his frozen state. He climbed down to the ground and joined his two brothers. His heart felt warm and ached at the same time, being here with the two of them again.  
  
“Ah. Haha sorry about that. I was just...” dreaming? Luffy giggled and plowed right into him, wrapping him in a very rubbery hug.  
  
“Shishishi! Sabo’s acting funny.” Luffy was grinning, while Ace groaned.  
  
“Not you too! We already have one air-headed brother; we don’t need another.” Ace told him.  
  
Luffy laughed at that before realizing what his brother had said, and when he did, he immediately released Sabo and went back to arguing with Ace. Watching them, Sabo could almost pretend like those awful memories had never happened in the first place. That it was all just an awful, _awful_ , dream.  
  
When Luffy and Ace starting arguing about which of them was the idiot, he started laughing. It felt nice; he hadn’t laughed like this in quite some time. He hadn’t known for a while if he ever would again, either. 

But still he felt unsure. The dream was too detailed to have just been a dream, but if it wasn’t just a dream, then what was going on? How was he back _here?_ With Luffy and Ace, and more importantly with _Ace alive_?

He frowned before coming up with an idea. Albeit a dumb one, but still an idea. He walked over to Ace, not saying a word. Ace stopped stretching Luffy’s cheeks while yelling at him, to look at Sabo. Without any warning, Sabo reached out and pinched one of Ace’s cheeks. Rather hard, too.

Ace felt real. Really real. Sabo stared at his hand in confusion but Ace didn’t pay that any attention as a vein on his forehead popped out in irritation.

_Bonk!_

“Oww! What the hell, Ace!?” Sabo yelled as he reached up to nurse what was sure to be a growing bump.

“That’s what I should be asking!!” growled Ace. Ace wasn’t touching where Sabo had pinched him, but Sabo knew it had to hurt a little bit. There was a red mark showing on his cheek. Before Sabo had to come up with an excuse for his odd behavior, Luffy came up with one for him.

“Shishishi! See Ace? It’s not nice when your own cheeks are pinched, is it!?” Luffy was grinning smugly as if _he_ was the one who had done the pinching. Ace’s eye twitched in irritation.

“What was that, you little-!” Before Ace could pounce on Luffy and resume his beating, Sabo moved in between them.

“Now, now, you two...I think that’s enough.” He tried to calm them both down, deciding that his two brothers killing each other certainly wouldn’t help him get any answers. Although, he didn’t think he’d be getting any answers from them, anyway. No, he was just going to have to figure this out on his own.

Their stomachs growled, signaling their hunger and the end to this fight. They needed food, so he decided to just let things be and figure it out later. For now, he was happy to have his brothers back, safe and sound, alive and _together_. 

* * *

 

Sabo got his chance to figure some things out sooner than he thought he would. Although, he didn’t see it as such at the time.

Sabo spent the better part of the morning thinking about the situation. His brothers had been acting the same as usual, so he figured he was the only one who...was like this. And, not wanting to freak the other two out, he kept his mouth shut about it.

He also tried to not to act any different than he did before, which was actually surprisingly easy. He slipped back into the routine of things a lot quicker than he thought he would. It felt so natural to be running around alongside his brothers again.

He knew today wasn’t going to be one of those nice days though, when he heard a large crashing sound coming from the forest. The three brothers looked at each other, worried and on their guard immediately. It quickly changed to panic though, when they heard a familiar booming voice.

“ACE! LUFFY! SABO! WHERE ARE YOU BRATS!?”

“GRANDPA’S COMING!” Screamed Luffy in panic and fear.

“Damn! Not that shitty geezer!” Ace said, quieter than Luffy but no less freaked out.

“HUSH, you two or he’ll hear you and find us!” Sabo hissed at them.

They took off running, hoping they could get away before Garp could dole out another of his ‘training sessions’ but it was useless. He caught up with them and soundly conked all three of them on the head.

“YOU BRATS WEREN’T TRYING TO RUN AWAY FROM YOUR PRECIOUS GRANDPA, NOW WERE YOU??” He asked. He wasn’t exactly yelling at them, but his normal speaking tone was so close to it, that there really wasn’t much of a difference.

Ace jumped in front of them while Luffy was crying. Sabo grabbed Luffy, trying to comfort him, as well as guard him from Garp.

“Shitty geezer…” spat Ace.

“ _SHITTY_?! WHY YOU LITTLE BRAT! FEEL A TASTE OF MY ‘FIST OF LOVE’!” He said to Ace, as he beat him on the head again. While Ace was momentarily distracted, Garp gave another one to Sabo and Luffy each, for good measure.

While Sabo sat there dazed, a sense of familiarity nagged at him. But Garp had knocked him so hard, he was having trouble placing it. He soon forgot all about it, though, as Garp spent the rest of the day ‘training’ the three of them. He finally gave up for the day right before the sun started setting, and only because his stomach growled.

It was kind of strange, but Sabo had to admit, it was also kind of nice, hunting for dinner with his brothers, alongside Garp. When the brothers decided to go after a bear they had spotted, Garp had stayed back and let them handle it. It had been a little difficult to adjust to not having his claws to attack with, but he regularly fought with a pipe anyway, so it was easy to mask his awkwardness.

After they’d defeated it, Luffy started drooling about it while Ace yelled at him that he couldn’t eat it right now. Sabo looked over to Garp, and he saw Garp looking highly amused and a little prideful.

But there was also a hint of curiosity on his face.

Dinner was the usual mess of fighting over food, and argument over future occupations.

“YOU THREE ARE GONNA MAKE AMAZING MARINES!”

“Hell no! We’re gonna be pirates!”

“Shishishi! I’m gonna be the Pirate King!”

“LIKE HELL YOU ARE. YOU’RE GONNA BE MARINES. AND THAT’S THAT.”

“We’re gonna be pirates!”

“MARINES!”

“Pirates!"

“MARINES!”

“Pirates! And don’t steal my food, Luffy!”

“But Aaaaace!”

_Bonk!_

“Owww!”

Sabo sighed, tuning the arguing D’s out, content to just finishing his meal, hopefully before Luffy could steal it. When dinner finally finished, and the fire was put out, all four lay down to get some sleep.

Garp was staying with them tonight because he was gonna be starting their ‘training session’ tomorrow at the crack of dawn. All three had groaned at that, and were rewarded with another round of Fists of Love.

Almost immediately Luffy and Ace were out like a light and he presumed Garp was too, but Sabo stayed awake, once again mulling over his dream/memories. He silently rubbed his head, already aching from today’s ‘training’ and he was not looking forward to tomorrow’s.

Damn that Garp. Why did he have to hit them so hard? He was even hurting Luffy with his-

His eyes flew open. “Haki!” He breathed the word out.

Of course! That’s what that feeling was earlier! Garp had to have been using Haki on them - _Garp had been using Haki on them!?_ \- That bastard! They were just kids!

“What was that, squirt?”

“Ah. Umm...” Shit. Garp was still awake, apparently. Wait. _Shit_. He’d heard Sabo say ‘Haki’ out loud. He sat up, looking around for the older man, hoping he didn’t look as panicked as he felt. He found him sitting on the log, staring at the fire pit that had long since gone cold.

“Can’t sleep, huh?” Garp asked him softly. He motioned for Sabo to come over, and so he did. He took the spot next to him on the log.

“Not really...my head hurts too much.” He shot Garp a pointed look, which he just chuckled at.

“I see.”

They sat like that, in companionable silence, for a while. Eventually Garp spoke up though.

“So...did I hear you right? You said ‘Haki’, did you not?” His tone was quiet, and Sabo couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Ah...that was...Umm.” Shit, he needed an excuse, and now. Wait. He knew! “Well, I’d come across the phrase before in some books during my studies, and I was just wondering about it...”

He hadn’t come across it before when he had been forced to study by his parents, but Sabo felt proud of himself. That seemed like an entirely plausible excuse...except he couldn’t remember if Garp knew about his lineage. Shit. Ah, well. He’d already started with this excuse, might as well see it through to the end.

Besides, if it was Haki, then he’d be able to confirm it, that he wasn’t making things up. That it wasn’t a dream and it had all, in fact, been memories. It also confirmed that Garp was, in fact, an ass for using Haki on kids.

If not, then Sabo was simply nuts and Garp was still an ass for using so much force on kids.

“Do you know anything about it, Garp?” He continued. Garp stared at him for a moment before his brows furrowed.

“Grandpa.” He said quietly. Sabo blinked, not sure where that response came from.

“I’m sorry, what?” Sabo was confused.

“If you three are going around calling yourselves brothers, then that means you’re my grandson, brat, and you damn well better call me Grandpa. You got that!?” Garp said roughly. 

Sabo was a little taken aback by that, but his expression shifted into that of a warm smile.

“Alright...Gramps.” Sabo smirked, while Garp ‘hmphed’.

“Better than ‘shitty gramps’ I suppose…” Garp mumbled. “Anyway...Haki, huh... Suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised you’d come across that info, being a noble and all.” Sabo looked at him. So he did know, then?

“Don’t look at me like that, brat. Sengoku may call me an idiot, but I’m not stupid. It really ain’t that hard to figure out.” Oh. So Sabo _hadn’t_ told him, he’d just guessed as much. Sabo felt a little disgruntled that it was that obvious he was noble-born though.

“Anyway, don’t go worrying about Haki right now. You kids are too young to be learning it right now. You’ll learn all about it, once you lot are marines.” Sabo snorted. Pfft, learn all about it? Sabo already knew all about it. Garp thought his snort was about the marines remark though.

“You’re gonna be marines, you got that?” Garp told him softly. Sabo smiled, saying nothing. He brought a hand to his mouth to help stifle a yawn that had worked its way up.

Garp chuckled, and told him “Go get some sleep kiddo. You’ll need your energy for tomorrow’s training.

Sabo shivered but complied nonetheless. He looked over at his brothers, sleeping peacefully. He smiled sadly, the images of Marineford flashing across his mind. He went back under his blanket and scooched closer to Luffy, who was currently wrapped around Ace.

The audio quality hadn’t been amazing, but he’d been able to pick out his brother’s voice amongst all the sounds of the war waging around him. Luffy’s anguished cry alone had left him with sleepless nights for several weeks.

 He had one last thought before he completely drifted off to sleep.

_Not this time._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! So the first part is done! Yay.  
> (Fun fact: Not all of this is new. Part of this section of the story was actually posted on my writing tumblr.)  
>   
> I wonder what's going to happen next >)


	2. Intro: Ace

Ace jerked awake, and almost fell off of the rock he was sitting on. He grabbed at his chest and felt fabric beneath his fingers but he was too startled to think anything of it. He was breathing really fast, so he a took a moment to slow his breathing before he let his thoughts get carried away.

Once he’d calmed down, it took all he had not to start swearing. _He had died_. In front of Luffy, no, worse. In _his arms_. Akainu! That bastard. He wished he could make him pay for going after Luffy’s life.

He froze. Now that Ace was gone...who was going to protect Luffy? He faintly recalled Jinbei being there. And Marco was still there. Hopefully, he would make sure nothing happened to Lu.

He bit his lip. He hoped his family didn’t resent Luffy for being the reason he had died.. He shook his head. No, they wouldn’t do that. He had tried more than a hundred times to take Pops’ head, and yet they had all showed up there...to save him. They wouldn’t blame Luffy for this. He was certain they would protect him.

He finally relaxed, sighing, before he heard a sound that made him tense up for a whole other reason. He looked up and what he saw shocked him to his core.

“Gomu gomu no….pist-mmf!” Luffy had tried to shoot his Pistol attack at Sabo but he’d ended up hitting himself in the head before he could even finish saying the name. Sabo just shook his head, trying not to smile at Luffy’s failure. Then Sabo, not so gently, bonked Luffy on the head with the end of his pipe.

“That makes number 46. Four more and we’re done for the day Lu.” Sabo told him. The two were completely oblivious to Ace’s current state of shock.

“That’s okay! I’m gonna beat you this time!” Luffy stated confidently, although it was a groundless statement. Ace watched as match 47 played out almost the exact same way as match 46 did.

What in the world is going on? Ace thought. He was sure he’d _died_. So why was he here, in his childhood? Is that what the afterlife was? Of course he wasn’t entirely sure what that afterlife was like, but he didn’t think it just dropped you in your childhood memories...with your memories as an adult. And how you died.

Or maybe it did. He didn’t know.

But...he had this feeling that wasn’t it. He looked up at Luffy, who was still trying to untangle himself from the mishap that was match 48. Ace knew that Devil Fruits reappeared after a user’s death, so he was surprised at Luffy having his.

He tried feeling for his flames, and sure enough they weren’t there. So he didn’t have his, but Luffy did. Well, then again Luffy wasn’t the one who had died. He glanced nervously at his brother. Hopefully.

Agh. This was confusing. His head was starting to hurt trying to figure it all out.

“Na! Ace! Fight me after this round!” Luffy called out to him, grinning ear to ear.

“No, Luffy. You know the rules. 100 a day, and 50 per. You already had your 50 matches with Ace for today.” Sabo chastised him.

“Ehhhhhhh. But I wanna fight Ace some more!” Luffy whined. Sabo rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. How about after we finish up, we go get some lunch. How does that sound? Ace?” Sabo asked them both.

Luffy cheered. “Yay! Meat!!” The two of them turned to smile at Ace then and Ace felt his heart break at the sight.

Ace remembered the disbelief and pain on Luffy’s face before he fell onto him. And Sabo…had died years ago. Ace turned his head away trying not to cry.

Ace was grateful for his moodiness as a child, because his brothers seemed to accept that as an answer. He heard Sabo call Luffy for their last round.

What confused him though was Sabo. If dying somehow dropped a person into their childhood, why wasn’t Sabo reacting to him being there? Wait. Did Sabo know he was there, or did he just think that Ace was part of the memories too? What if-

A small rubbery-fist came out of nowhere and smacked him right in the face. He didn’t fall off the rock, but he had to struggle to keep his balance.

Throwing his thoughts away for the moment, he turned towards the culprit and leveled a menacing glare at him.

“Dammit Luffy! Watch where you’re aiming!!” Ace yelled at him.

“Ah. Sorry, Ace!” Luffy apologized, but he didn’t sound the least bit apologetic. While he was distracted looking at Ace, Sabo threw a flying kick at Luffy.

“Annnnd. That makes 50, Luffy. I win again.” Sabo stated. Luffy who had ended up face first in the ground, sat up and spat out the dirt that had gotten in his mouth.

“Eh! NO FAIR! Ace was distracting me!” Luffy complained. Ace just rolled his eyes.

“All the more reason it’s my win then. You can’t let yourself get distracted in a fight Lu. It could cost you.” Sabo told him. Ace, who had hopped off the rock and was making his way towards the two, faltered at his words. Neither of the two noticed it however.

Luffy’s face had gone blank, before becoming contemplative. It was a strange look on his brother’s face and after the pain he’d just recently seen (caused), Ace could barely handle it.

He wanted Luffy to be the smiling, happy idiot he always was. Before Ace could attempt to fix what he viewed as wrong, Luffy spoke and Ace instantly felt better.

“But I don’t have any money…” Luffy stared at them with innocent eyes. Sabo rolled his eyes.

“We know. But that’s not what I meant…” Sabo told him, but he didn’t explain what he meant, and Ace was glad for it. He didn’t think he could handle anymore right now. His heart already felt heavy enough as it was.

“Anyway, let’s go get some food. Watching Luffy fail with his attack made me super hungry.” Sabo said. At the mention of food, Luffy’s eyes lit up and he started bouncing around.

“Food! Food! Foooood!” He exclaimed. The older brothers both rolled their eyes before setting off in search of meat to satisfy their little brother.

After a very eventful crocodile hunt, Luffy falling in the water and almost getting eaten, and Ace feeling super weird being able to go in water again, they gorged themselves on their catch.

Luffy had eaten too much and was laying on his back, his belly bulging unnaturally courtesy of Devil Fruit. Sabo looked over at Luffy with a thoughtful expression on his face.

 “Oi, Luffy. You really should work on your aim you know. You hit Ace earlier… and it’s not a good idea to use that attack with the chance of it rebounding and hitting one of us.” Sabo told him.

 “Pfft. I wouldn’t even call that an attack!” Ace said, his old habit of teasing slipping out. Luffy hopped up on his feet, his body somehow returning to normal size, and he stared at them with a determined look.

 “It is too! You’ll see! I’ll figure it out and my punch will be as strong as pistol! And one day I’ll be even stronger than you, Ace!” Luffy yelled at them.

 “Like hell you will!” He responded. He had to hide his smile. He knew Luffy would figure it out eventually. He knew how strong Luffy would become. He struggled not to laugh though. It was just so funny to think of how Luffy would grow and compare it to the one in front of him who could barely walk without tripping over his own feet.

 Luffy puffed up his face in discontent while Sabo laughed at it. At his face, Ace did smile this time. It was good to be back with his brothers.

* * *

They were halfway back to the treehouse when it hit him...that Luffy had _hit him,_ when he and Sabo had been fighting. He knew he’d been deep in thought but that shouldn’t really matter too much with his Haki. He frowned and tried using it to search around, and was shocked to find that he couldn’t use his Haki anymore.

 So no Devil Fruit and no Haki either?! He could understand not having his Devil Fruit powers, those came from an external source initially and regenerated at death, but Haki was supposed to be an internal thing. So he wasn’t even allowed that in the afterlife? He ‘tch’ed. He was really not liking this whole being dead thing. For several reasons, but it was getting worse by the minute.

 Luffy’s laughter interrupted his thoughts and, looking up, he saw Luffy grinning at something Sabo was saying.

 Well. Maybe it wasn’t _that_ bad. At least he was with his brothers, in a way, again. But he was starting to wonder about this afterlife place… If he was dropped in his memories, then was he just supposed to live them out again, up till his death? It _would_ explain him not having his Haki right now.

 He scowled at nothing in particular. If that was the case, it wasn’t going to be fun. He’d have to relive losing Sabo, and losing to Teach, and all other sorts of not so fun memories. He almost wished he could change things, but he didn’t know what that would do. Well, that and him being dead kind of prevented him from being _able_ to change anything.

 He grunted. The topic of his thoughts may have been different but he was feeling just as surly as he did the first time he was this age. His brothers threw him a glance but they said nothing as they went back to discussing whatever it was they’d been talking about.

 He quietly sighed, resigning himself to just reliving his life over again. At least he got to be with his brothers again for the first part of it. That thought alone was more than enough to make him feel not entirely bitter about the whole thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's Ace! :D  
> Yeah, this one was a bit shorter and I apologize for that...  
>   
> I'm not 100% decided on my "posting schedule" because this story is almost fully written. I don't want to post it all at once but I also don't like the idea of waiting once a week?? Idk. I'll probably just post every few days as I see fit.


	3. Intro: Luffy

When Luffy came to, he found himself lying beneath a huge tree. He didn't remember falling asleep under a tree. Standing up, he looked around and frowned upon not seeing Rayleigh anywhere.

"Hmmmmm." He tilted his head to the side, and decided it wasn't worth worrying about. After all, Rayleigh was prone to just up and walking away from him, especially when he was sleeping. He said it was to help him hone his Observation Haki. Not a big deal.

He started walking off, thinking of finding something to eat. He wanted to eat some crocodile meat again but the last one he'd caught had been extremely difficult to defeat and he knew the other ones had been much stronger. He whined. He really wanted some crocodile meat.

His stomach growled, and he gave up on the crocodiles. It didn't really matter that much anyway. Meat was meat! Now what was around that he could take down…

He blinked. 'Huh?'

"That's strange…" he mumbled. He couldn't use his Observation Haki for some reason.

"This isn't good. I've gotten so far!" He complained. He looked around again, annoyed that he'd have to find Rayleigh the old-fashioned way. He heard rustling nearby and was relieved that he didn't have to go searching for him. He was about to call out a greeting to him but his words died when he saw who came out from behind the bush.

"Ace…." he whispered.

"There you are Luffy!" Yelled a very angry, very small, very had-a-shirt-on, Ace. Ace didn't stop and walked right up to Luffy.

_Bonk!_

"OWW! Aceee! What was that for!?" Luffy yelled at him, grabbing at his growing bump.

"BECAUSE. We've told you how many times to not go rocketing off like that! It's a pain in the ass to have to go and hunt you down!" Ace yelled at him. Luffy looked up at him shocked. ' _We'_? Wait did that mean-

He heard rustling from the same bush and moments later, out walked Sabo.

"Ah, you found him Ace. Honestly, Luffy. That Rocket thing was great for taking down the tiger but it's not really helpful when it gets you lost and we have to hunt you down."

' _Taking down the tiger_ '?!

Luffy looked down and saw that he was a child yet again! Amazing! But...he looked up at his brothers.

"Ace. Sabo. You're here." His older brothers exchanged glances before Ace yelled at him again.

"Of course we are idiot! If you don't like us not being here, don't go rocketing off! Like. We. Keep. Telling. You. Not. _To_." He emphasized the last word by hitting Luffy on the head again.

"Oww! Sabo! Ace is being mean!" Luffy cried out. Sabo rolled his eyes and before Ace could yell again, Sabo interjected.

"Alright you two. Are we getting food now that we've found Luffy, or what?" Their stomachs growled in agreement. Luffy smiled.

"Yay, food!" And he got to have it with Sabo and Ace too! Today was a good day! Sabo and Ace each grabbed an arm before he ran off again. Only, he kept going...and going...and going. He looked back at the two of them before he finally snapped back and they all went flying from the rebound.

Luffy sat up and giggled.

Sabo stood up and dusted himself off. Ace grumbled and got to his feet.

"Anyway. Let's go get some food now. How does crocodile sound?" Ace asked. Crocodile meat?! Today was officially the _best day ever_!

"Sounds good. Let's go." Sabo answered. Luffy 'yippeed' and tried to run off again but Ace tripped him and he fell over. Sabo didn't say anything about Ace's mistreatment of Luffy this time. Ace just simply picked Luffy up and off they went.

When they arrived at the river's edge, his older brothers told him to stay put where he was. He tried arguing with them but they both hit him over the head.

"No, Luffy! We had to fish you out of the water the last 3 times and I don't really feel like going swimming today too!" Ace told him.

"Sorry Lu. I'm with Ace on this one. Just sit tight and we'll be right back. If you're good, we might let you have a bigger portion of the meat than normal." Sabo tried bribing him. Ace looked over at Sabo, glaring at his lie. Luffy fell for it though.

"Hmmm. Okay then! I'll be good! Promise!" He smiled big and hoped they believed him. He really wanted some meat and he might get more this time? He would do his very best to behave.

He watched as his brothers took off and went after a crocodile that was particularly large. He was having such a good time...even if his brothers were being stingy by not letting him go too. His smile soon fell though.

He watched as his brothers battled the animal, Ace being sent flying and made to take a swim anyway. The distance between them felt so large. It hurt, remembering yet again that his brothers were both gone, away from him. The scene from Marineford was playing over and over again in his mind. Like it had every day for the past, it'd been what? Almost a year now? Yeah.

Being here though, at what was clearly Mt. Corvo and definitely not Ruskaina, caused him a new ache. The day Dogra came back and told them Sabo was dead started playing in his mind. And that brought up the memory of Ace promising not to die. Hugging his knees to his chest, he stifled a sob. It hurt so much. The memories played on a loop. Sabo's death. Ace's promise. Ace's death. Each time felt like a new wound to his heart. He put his head on his knees and hugged them closer. He missed his brothers so badly...He stifled another sob.

But...his brothers were here, weren't they? He was here with them. Somehow. He knew they were real. He'd _felt them_. Both of them. When they grabbed him earlier and he snapped back, crashing into them. They'd both felt so real. Ace's hits had hurt too. He felt the pain so that meant they were real, right?

He wondered what he should do, Should he say something to them? Probably not. They'd both hit him and call him an idiot for it, probably. Ace had done something similar hadn't he? When Luffy thought he'd died in the Grey Terminal fire. He remembered Ace hitting him and yelling 'Don't act like people are dead when they're not! Dummy!' Shortly after that Dogra had come back and….

Shaking his head, he tried to clear those thoughts away. He looked up and saw Sabo and Ace were coming back, dragging a large crocodile behind them. His mouth started drooling at the sight of it, and he hopped up excited.

No. He wouldn't tell them. He would just enjoy the time (however long) he'd been given with his brothers again. Even if he didn't know _how_ he was back with them again.

He mentally shrugged. It was a mystery.

* * *

Luffy was super-duper happy! He thought when he went to sleep that he'd wake up and his brothers would have just been a dream, but they weren't! They were still here! Or he was still with them. He wasn't sure. He didn't really care.

He and Sabo had started up a conversation about the Grand Line and all the strange things they thought they might see when they set out on their own. Luffy was so excited by all the things they were coming up with, that his sadness at Sabo not being able to experience any of it was buried.

"You know what I've read about that's pretty interesting? Fishmen!" Sabo said. But Luffy made a face at that, thinking of Arlong.

"Hey now! I'm pretty sure not all fishmen are that bad. It's just like humans isn't it? You've got your bad ones like the nobles and Porchemy, and you've got your good ones like Makino!" Sabo told him.

Thinking of Hatchi, he nodded. "That's true. I wonder if they poop though." Sabo deadpanned at that.

"...really? If you ever meet one, I hope you don't ask them that..." Sabo told him, exasperatedly.

"Why not? I'd ask anything that seems interesting if it pooped. Even a talking skeleton!" He smiled fondly, thinking of Brook. Before any sadness welled up, Sabo snorted and dragged him out of his reminiscing.

"A living skeleton? Really…? Pretty sure those don't exist Lu." Sabo told him bluntly. Luffy giggled. If only he knew…

"Well, I betcha they do!" Luffy told him, grinning.

"They do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

A grunt from behind them pulled them out of their argument. They both looked at their brother, who was clearly not in the best of moods. Without a word, they both agreed it was best to leave him be right now.

"Do not." Sabo said, defiantly. This time it was Luffy who snorted.

"It's more likely than an island that rains lightning, at least!" Luffy told him. Sabo's eyes narrowed at him.

"Oh yeah? Then how, exactly, do you propose a living skeleton exists? Hmmm?" Sabo challenged him. Luffy smirked, knowing he was about to win.

"Hehe. That's easy." Sabo just looked at him skeptically. Luffy grinned.

"Devil Fruit!" He stated boldly. Sabo smacked his forehead with his hand.

"I didn't know what you'd say but to think _that's_ what you come up with. Really? I know Devil Fruits are pretty strange, but how on earth that does make one a living skeleton?" Sabo asked him.

"Shishishi. If I can be rubber why can't someone become a living skeleton?" Luffy asked him. "If there was a fruit that like revived them after they'd died and their body became a skeleton before they came back to life, they could!" He explained, trying to both remember the details Brook told him while also trying not to sound like he knew too much about it.

"That's a fair point but a fruit to bring someone back to life? As if something that amazing existed…" He sighed, and looked away.

Luffy decided this conversation had gotten too close to home for comfort, so he shrugged, trying to play it off. "Dunno. Would be cool if it did though! A talking skeleton sounds amazing…"

"It sounds weird Luffy." A voice behind them spoke, causing both of them to jump.

"Wahh! Ace!" Luffy had fallen onto the ground, startled. Ace ignored Luffy and continued speaking.

"Anyway, if you two are done talking about weird things, you might want to look at the sky. It's gonna rain. And I'd rather not get soaking wet." Ace told them, jerking his head in the direction of the oncoming storm.

"Ah, crap. He's right. Come on, let's go before it gets here." Sabo said and they all took off in a run towards their treehouse.

They made it back just as lightning cracked across the sky. They all collapsed in a pile together, on the floor, tired from running the entire way home. After a few minutes they all sat up, looked at each and laughed.

Luffy was grinning from ear to ear, while Ace and Sabo both had small smiles.

"Na, Ace. Sabo." He spoke up. They both looked at him.

"I'm glad you two are here!" He exclaimed and quickly wrapped the two of them in a close hug, unwilling to let go as they struggled. He didn't know what mystery thing caused him to be back here again, but he was thankful for it.

He had gotten to laugh with, and hug, his brothers once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone (who celebrates it) had a wonderful Easter!


	4. The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **See end notes for some clarifications.**

Ace was about to yell at Luffy to let them go, that they’d been hugging long enough, when a gust of wind blew through the windows, knocking the three of them over. Ace sat up and saw Sabo stand up and walk over to one of the windows, holding onto his hat making sure it didn’t fly off.

“Wow! This wind is amazing!” Sabo stated with a bit of awe. Luffy bounced up and ran over as well.

“Shishishi! You can’t get us storm! This is our ship and you’re not taking it down!” Luffy yelled, challenging the incoming force of nature. Sabo cheered in agreement. Ace smirked and ran up to the ‘helm’, taking hold of it. The rain lightly started then, while the wind picked up even more.

Luffy cheered at Ace joining them but yelled out. He and Sabo looked at him in panic.

“The flag! I can’t let it break off!” And with that he took off, dashing up to their ‘crow’s nest’. Sabo shook his head while sighing. There was another gust of wind.

“Here it comes! The Storm is coming!” Ace yelled out. Sabo whipped around, looking back out the window.

“If you’re gonna come, then bring it on! Blow stronger!” Sabo challenged. They could hear Luffy’s shouts from over the wind.

“Awesome! The wind keeps picking up!”

“Luffy! Don’t let that flag be torn off!” Ace told him.

“Losing your flag is the ultimate disgrace for a pirate!” Sabo added. They heard Luffy’s determined ‘Alright!’.

“Come at us, strong gust of wind!” Luffy dared the wind. Ace couldn’t help but join in on challenging the storm.

“Show us what you’ve got, great storm!” He yelled.

“Bring it on, you jerk!” Sabo yelled. Mother Nature finally rose to the challenge and sent a strong blast of wind in their direction. Ace saw Sabo gripping the wall tightly in one hand and his hat in the other.

“Here it comes!” Yelled Ace excitedly. Just then they heard Luffy’s panicked screams and they both turned around calling his name. They ran to the other side of the house, worried.

“Are you alright?!” Shouted Ace.

They saw Luffy, arms extended and stretched, flapping in the wind, much like the flag he was supposed to be protecting.

“Save me!” Called Luffy.

Amused, Ace asked, “What’re you doing, Luffy?” He saw Sabo grinning, out of the corner of his eye. They both started laughing at the sight. Ace knew he shouldn’t laugh but he knew Luffy would be fine, so he felt okay doing so.

“Don’t just laugh, help me!” Cried Luffy in terror. Their laughter continued.

But that abruptly changed when Luffy’s grip slipped and he went flying. Ace’s eyes widened in panic. What was going on? This isn’t what happened!! Luffy didn’t fly off before!

“Shit!” He shouted. He heard Sabo yell something similar, right behind him and they both dashed out of the tree-house, not caring a lick about the storm.

“LUFFY!!!” They shouted in terror. They ran through the continually darkening forest, shouting for Luffy, looking for him in the direction that he’d flown off in.

As the rain fell, the ground turned muddy and their feet were starting to squish underneath them. They took care not to slip and fall because of it.

Shit, shit, shit. Why can’t he learn?! How many times was Luffy going to be in danger because he failed to help him, to _protect_ him. He felt like the worst brother in the world right now. The longer they searched, the more his panic grew.

Where was Luffy?!

Sabo was looking equally frantic. Neither of them knew where the hell their little brother had gone, and it was their fault because they hadn’t tried to help him when he had asked for help. On top of that, Ace was confused as all get out, because _this hadn’t happened before_. This wasn’t how his memory went.

Did that mean it wasn’t a memory then? He felt his heart miss a beat. He didn’t dare let himself hope that it wasn’t. He didn’t dare hope that he was actually back in the past, and that he had another chance at things.

None of that mattered right now though. They still couldn’t find Luffy. Dammit it all! Where’d he go!!

* * *

 

Sabo was completely freaked out. This was completely different than how his memories of things went and he was not liking the changes. He’d intended to change things, but _not like this_. He’d wanted to change things so he _didn’t_ lose his brothers this time!

“LUFFY!” They shouted again and again. They had distanced themselves from each other slightly, so they were searching over a slightly wider area. With each call that didn’t get a response, fear started to eat at him. Was Luffy okay? How far had he flown? He hoped Luffy didn’t fall in any of the rivers in the forest. At that thought, he let out an anguished shout of Luffy’s name. No answer.

This just couldn’t be happening! He looked over at Ace and saw that he looked as terrible as Sabo felt. Clenching his fists in frustration, he mentally cursed. If only he had his Haki! He could find Luffy, and easily too!!

They ran, further and further and still no sign of Luffy. It felt as if the forest was growing darker with each second, and not because of the night or the storm. A startled shout, caused him to stop running and look behind him.

Ace had tripped and fallen. He didn’t seem to notice though, concern for Luffy written so clearly across his face that Sabo could almost hear it. Sabo knew things were bad if _Ace_ had tripped, worse, hadn’t even noticed it because he was panicking so badly.

If he had been in a sounder state of mind, and not panicking over a lost little brother and a clearly changed memory, then he might have wondered why Ace was freaking out quite so badly. Ace and Luffy hadn’t been quite as close as they’d become after Sabo..left.

But he was not in a sound state of mind. So he didn’t think about it. It didn’t even register in his mind. All he could focus on was Luffy and his whereabouts, as the wind and rain picked up even more. It was starting to get darker and that didn’t bode well. It also didn’t help their vision. The wind and rain had already been making it hard enough to see.

“Dammit!” He heard Ace yell. “Luffy where are you!!!!”

Sabo looked around and took note of where they were, which was extremely far from the treehouse. They were also running out of room to search! They were nearing the bridge that led back to the bandits’ place.

Sabo’s heart dropped when too soon they did indeed reach the bridge, without finding hide nor hair of Luffy. They both stopped to catch their breath. He looked up at Ace.

“Ace….” he said. Everything was hurting. His muscles, his lungs, his throat, and his heart.  “What do we do?”

Ace looked at him, like he couldn’t believe he’d asked that question. “What do you mean ‘what do we do’?! We keep looking for him of course!” Ace snapped at him.

Yeah, Ace was definitely not the more level-headed of the two right now.. Not that he usually was. But he was particularly bad right now.

“I know that but there’s not much left that way and what if he blew someplace besides the path we took? Do we keep going or spread our search out over the way we came?” Sabo asked him. Ace opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and closed it. He looked torn, not sure which was the better idea.

Honestly, Sabo had no clue either. But the longer it took, the more dangerous it became for Luffy, and the more desperate Ace was going to get. Neither of which was a good thing. He sighed and held up a hand.

“Gimme a second to think.” Ace was about to argue but a hard stare from Sabo silenced him.

He put his hand under his chin, trying to figure out which exactly was the better choice. A garbled noise caught his attention though. He looked at Ace, but he showed no signs of having heard the noise.

Wondering what it was, he started walking around, trying to figure out where it came from. When he neared the ledge, he looked down, deciding to check on the water levels while they were here. What he saw made his blood run cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Cliffhangers are fun. Also, man, what is an "uploading schedule"? I don't even know. It's so arbitrary when i'm going to upload chapters lmao)  
>   
> There was some confusion on FFN whether the first three chapters were stand alone one shots or what not.  
>  **Clarification** : This is all one story. Everything written in this story happens in this story. Like my tags say "there is a timeline." The first three chapters all happen over the course of two days. Each section happens at different times over those days. From this point onward, it's all linear (up to a point).  
> Also, _all three_ boys are "back in time". None of them know that the others are also back.  
>  Sabo is unsure about what's going on and doesn't want to freak the other two out.  
> Ace is trying to come to terms with whether or not he's dead so he's not mentioning it to the others.  
> Luffy is just accepting things are they are but thinks the other two won't believe him if he says anything.  
>   
> I apologize for the confusion. I guess cause I already have everything written out it's not confusing for me? but I do apologize if it was confusing. Hope this clarifies things for folks.  
> 


	5. The Storm: Lost and Found

 

Luffy sat up, aching a little from being thrown around like a rag doll. He remembered Ace and Sabo laughing as he begged for help, and then suddenly they weren't there. The wind had picked him up and carried him away from his brothers.

Stupid wind. Eventually he dropped from the sky, getting scratched by several branches on his way to the ground. He thought his unscheduled flight was over once he got to the ground, but he'd forgotten he was made of rubber, and more importantly, that he bounced.

And that's what he did. He bounced up, hit the ground two more times, and then he was falling over the cliff. He fell into the wall, bounced and hit one of the taller pillars of rocks, bounced again and fell onto the ledge where he currently was.

He was grateful that the ledge was kind of rough. If he hadn't grabbed hold of a jagged edge, he'd have bounced again and landed in the river. He gave his body a once over, checking his wounds and saw that he had several small scratches as well as large, bleeding ones on his hands.

He shrugged, not caring, since he'd been through much worse than this before. Granted he hadn't been a kid, but whatever. Details.

He looked around, trying to figure out a way out of here. He saw he was on one of the lower ledges, and that the river was starting to rise and fast. He looked up and saw some good footholds. He was certain he couldn't reach the top of the cliff as small as he was right now, but he could probably reach the ledges.

He stood up and launched his fist at one of them, and grabbed on. He was about to shout with glee when his hand slipped right off the edge.

Crap! The rain made it too slippery to grab! What did he do now? He looked around, hoping he would suddenly get an answer, but none came.

If he didn't get out of here soon though, the river was going to reach him and he was going to drown! But…

He looked up. _How_ was he going to get out…? He sat down and leaned his head against the wall, staring at the sky.

Using his powers and stretching out of there was out of the question. He couldn't swim. And there were no other ledges he could jump to, to climb out of there.

So was he just going to die then? He didn't like that. He didn't want to die! Not so soon after he'd seen his brothers again! And plus his crew was waiting on him.

Was this the cost of him seeing his brothers? Is this the price whatever mystery thing, that brought him here, wanted him to pay?

He hoped not.. Maybe he was just being greedy. He was a pirate after all, and pirates were greedy. What did the mystery thing expect? That he would be willing to pay? Obviously this mystery thing hadn't had any experiences with pirates before.

Willing or not, it was looking like he was going to have to pay. The water level was slowly rising, and coming closer and closer to his end.

He was unhappy about this, but it was his own fault anyway. He was the one who'd been hanging off of the flagpole, instead of down inside the crow's nest, where it was more secure against gusts of wind. He shouldn't have been so stupid. He sighed.

Live without regrets, huh? Yeah…he didn't have any regrets, besides Ace's death, but he'd gotten to see Ace and Sabo once more, so he felt a little better. They had been smiling and laughing when he saw them last. So that was good. He pouted. Even if they were laughing at him...

Sabo. Ace. He wanted to see them really badly. He hoped that maybe they would come searching for him, but it was so dark and dangerous out that he wasn't entirely sure they might. It would be too difficult to find him. Who would look down into the ravine after all. It was just the river and they knew he couldn't swim so it made no sense for them to check down here..

He curled up in the same position he'd been in when Sabo and Ace were hunting crocodiles. To top it off, he was all wet from the rain and the wind was really cold, so he was sitting there shivering.

"fy…."

Luffy didn't lift his head up, figuring it was just the wind howling.

"...uffy…."

He lifted his head slightly. Maybe it wasn't the wind…?

"LUFFY!"

He jerked his head upwards and saw Sabo and Ace standing atop the cliff above him. His heart soared. They had come looking for him! They'd found him!

"Sabo! Ace!" He cried, standing up, wondering if they could hear him.

"...throw…...arm….." Sabo was saying something but he couldn't make it out over the wind. He made a sad face at them. They exchanged looks, and some words, and turned back to him. They both inhaled and at the same time shouted.

"THROW YOUR ARM UP!" He widened his eyes at them. Don't they think he would have already tried that.. He was hoping they had something to pull him up with.

They were looking at him in confusion, probably wondering why he wasn't doing anything. He frowned, knowing they weren't going to get anywhere unless he showed them why he wasn't doing anything.

He stood again, wound up, and threw his fist up again aiming for the top of the cliff this time. As he'd guessed, it definitely didn't reach it, only going as high as the ledges.

He watched them frown, and talk amongst themselves for a moment, before they turned back to him.

They both inhaled again, "GRAB THE LEDGE!"

He sighed. Instead of wasting his energy throwing his fist back up he tried yelling at them, hoping they'd hear him. "CAN'T. IT'S WET!"

They must have heard them because he saw both their eyes widen, and Ace's mouth formed a word, which he was pretty certain was 'Shit!'. He looked up at them helplessly. They both turned and talked amongst themselves again.

He looked behind him and saw that the water level was getting dangerously close to the ledge. He hoped they'd hurry up. He looked back up and it looked like they were arguing about something. Ace pointed down and said something, and Sabo shouted at him, gesturing wildly.

Ace rolled his eyes and before Sabo could say anything else, Ace hurled himself off the edge of the cliff. Luffy's eyes widened in fear. _What was he doing?!_

"ACE!" He screamed, panicking. Ace landed on the ledge that Luffy had previously tried to grab. Luffy watched him struggle a moment before he seemed to get ahold of some leverage.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Luffy yelled again. If Ace died again because of him! He wouldn't be able to handle it…

"THROW YOUR ARM UP, LU!" Since Ace was closer, Luffy could hear him without the added support of Sabo's voice.

"WHAT IF YOU FALL?!" Luffy asked him. Ace rolled his eyes.

"WE CAN SWIM. YOU CAN'T! NOW HURRY UP!" Ace told him. Luffy looked behind him and saw that he was out of time. The water level had just reached his ledge. He had no choice. He shot his arm up again and this time Ace grabbed hold of it tightly. He shot upward and out of the ravine. Ace had been holding on so tightly that he ended up being shot into the air with him.

Luffy's arm snapped back to normal, pulling Ace to him. Luffy wrapped around him in a hug, as they started falling.

"Ace! The fall!" Luffy told him. Luffy could survive the fall, but he was rubber. Ace wasn't! Ace just snorted.

"I'll be fine!" Ace reassured him. Luffy wasn't sure where the confidence came from but he hoped he was right. Either way, when they were closer to the ground, Luffy twisted around, trying to absorb the impact from the fall.

It worked and the two of them bounced and landed in a bush nearby. Sabo came running over, concern all over his face.

"Luffy! Ace!" He shouted. When he reached the bush, he helped pulled Luffy out first, then Ace.

Luffy then proceeded to attack both of them in a hug. "Ace! Sabo!" He started crying. "I. Was. So. Scared!" He punctuated each word with a sob.

Sabo wrapped his free arm around Luffy trying to comfort him. Ace did the same but after a moment of hesitation. He wailed into their ears. Eventually, Ace couldn't take it anymore and he snapped.

"Dammit Luffy! Would you stop that?! What have I told you about crying?!" Luffy stopped immediately, although it was obvious he still wanted to cry.

Ace coughed and looked away. "I don't like crybabies, remember?" Luffy nodded his head, while Sabo smiled at them.

"Come on you two, I think it's time we head home, don't you? I've had enough adventure for one day." Sabo suggested. "Plus, Luffy needs bandages for his hands." Oh. He'd forgotten about that.

They all stood up as they untangled from Luffy's embrace. Luffy yawned. He was really tired. It'd been a _long_ day.

Ace cocked his head, considering something before he looked at Luffy.

"Come on….I'll carry you." Ace told Luffy, while looking away. Luffy blinked at him.

Ace snapped at him in embarrassment, "Hurry up or i'll change my mind!" Grinning he ran over, and promptly situated himself on Ace's back.

"Well, let's go."

* * *

They finally made it back to the treehouse. They'd gotten lost a few times because the storm combined with nightfall had caused their vision to be incredibly reduced. Ace nudged the resting Luffy to wake him, letting him know they'd made it back.

Luffy got off his back and yawned again. They were all exhausted and ready to be back in their beds but first things first, they needed to see to Luffy's wounds.

They climbed up and Sabo retrieved the first aid kit. Luffy was sitting under his blanket, trying not to nod off. Ace was keeping an eye on him, ready to catch him should he nod off, and fall over. After Sabo finished applying first aid, they all laid down, to try and get some sleep.

None of them slept though. They all lay awake, but with their eyes shut so if either of the others 'woke up' and looked at them, they'd think they were sleeping.

Luffy was thinking about what had just happened. He'd come so close to death and he'd almost accepted it. He had felt like that before, at the execution stand with Buggy. But that felt different than now. This time didn't sit right with him. His almost-death felt too lonely and sad.

He guessed he wasn't as over Ace's death and the separation of his crew, as he thought he was.

Ace was wondering what the hell was going on. He was supposed to be dead, 'reliving' his life, right? So what was going on?! Things were obviously different than he remembered. Luffy hadn't gone flying off like that originally. That's not what happened! So did that mean, if he tried to, he could change even more things? But...how?

Maybe he wasn't actually dead? Maybe he had another chance and he was actually really back here with his brothers! He wished it was true, but his luck had never been that kind.

Sabo was cursing this whole situation, and everything about it. Especially the fact that, despite this being nearly a mirror of his memories, he had so little clue about anything. Why did things suddenly change from what he remembered? Why was he even back here? _How_ was he back here? And with his memories from the first go round present.

And most importantly, why did he just witness almost losing both his brothers again? He'd sworn he wasn't going to lose either of them this time.

Slowly, they all realized, that despite this one changed memory, what tomorrow was supposedly going to bring. And so none of them were looking forward to the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These poor boys. Oh man.


	6. The Next Day

The morning came sooner than the brothers would have liked. Breakfast was a rather subdued affair. Each of them was not looking forward to the day, but they each thought the others were simply exhausted from yesterday's events.

None of them wanted to go but none of them wanted to suggest they didn't go today. It was painfully obvious that the tree house needed repairs and they couldn't leave it like it was, so they needed to scavenge for usable wood.

Sabo was the one that was most level-headed and the better planner of the three, so it would be out of character for him to suggest they stay behind today and just leave things alone for now. No matter how much he wanted to change things, having seen a memory already changed and how close to disaster it came, he was a little more hesitant about how he went about things now. Plus he didn't want to risk doing it in such a blatant way; he didn't know how his brothers would react to any odd behavior by him.

Ace wanted so badly to force them to not go to the Grey Terminal today, but even he could see that they couldn't leave their home like it was. Plus he was still unsure about effecting change in his memories. He still wasn't entirely sure what was up with last night and he didn't want to risk things going even more awry by completely changing things right now. Plus, him being hesitant to do something was not like him at all and his brothers would pester him to tell them what was wrong and he didn't want to explain...what had happened to him.

Luffy didn't want to go through losing Sabo all over again. He hated it the first time, and he knew he'd hate it even more a second time, knowing what was coming and being completely helpless to stop it. He couldn't really suggest not going to the other two, they would call him an idiot and point out how the damages needed repairing. What was the point in bringing it up, if they wouldn't listen anyway?

None of them had the nerve to suggest not going, but none of them had the heart to suggest that they _do_ go.

The problem resolved itself when Luffy was walking across the room and he almost fell through one of the holes in the floor.

"Ah!" He yelled when his feet suddenly didn't meet floor. He was able to catch himself and yank himself back up without a problem. He looked up at the other two, who were both halfway to help him when they'd heard his yell.

"What are we going to do about the floor...and all the other holes?" He asked, looking around. "Cause I really don't wanna fall again…"

"We'll have to go salvage more usable wood from Grey Terminal. It's too dangerous to leave it like this for any length of time." Sabo answered thickly. Ace simply nodded his agreement.

"Okay…" Luffy said dejectedly, before a yawn escaped his mouth.

Ace looked at him. "Tired Lu?"

"Mhmm.." He hadn't gotten much sleep last night, he'd stayed up, tossing and turning.

"That's understandable. Yesterday _was_ a long day." Sabo said.

"Today's gonna be an even longer one.." Ace said offhandedly. Sabo and Luffy looked at him sharply. Noticing their stares, he quickly tacked on, "Looking for boards and fixing the house. It's gonna be a long day with all that to do."

"Mhmm. True." Sabo agreed. "Anyway, we should get going if we're gonna go.." Nodding, they all grabbed their pipes and headed out.

They didn't speak too much on their way there, content to listening to Luffy's out-of-tune whistling of some song.

When they were nearing their destination, a thought occurred to Luffy that cheered him up immensely.

"Ne ne! Do we think we'll find a telescope! I want one!" Luffy said happily. 'I might be able to find one this time', he thought. Ace rolled his eyes.

"Dumbass, you think something like that's just gonna fall out of the sky?" Ace told him. 'Although...stranger things _have_ fallen out of the sky', Ace thought. 'Like you, for one.'

"In that case, I want to find a cannon!" Said Sabo, jumping onto Luffy's train of thought.

"If a cannon fell out of the sky, that'd be awesome!" Luffy said excitedly. Ace laughed at that one, thinking of the _battleship_ that fell out of the sky, forget a cannon.

When they reached the Terminal, they split up to start searching. Sabo went looking in the direction he remembered finding the telescope the first time while Ace kept near Luffy, so he could keep an eye on him, in case something happened. Again.

* * *

After what could only have been thirty minutes of looking, Luffy looked up from his digging, over at Ace.

"It's no use, Ace. I can't find a telescope!" He whined. He was really hoping he could find one this time!

It took everything Ace had not to smack his forehead in frustration. 'Of course, all Luffy would care about is the damned telescope… But then again, he doesn't know what's supposed to happen….' He thought sourly.

"Luffy, why are you looking for a telescope?" Ace asked him, grumpily. "Go find some usable wood instead!"

Luffy had a pensive look on his face before he looked up at Ace, his expression unreadable.

"Ne Ace, let's go look over that way!" Before Ace could say anything Luffy had taken off. Groaning, he followed after him. After a few minutes, he realized that they were going towards where the incident with Sabo and Bluejam was supposed to take place. His brows furrowed. Why was Luffy going this way of all directions?

While he was mulling that over, Luffy had stopped running and started digging through the piles of trash again.

Going closer he heard Luffy mumbling something. "...telescope…..telescope….telescope…."

He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. So Luffy was just hell-bent on finding a telescope, just a coincidence then… He shook his head then resumed his digging for wood. His search didn't last long because he heard Luffy gasp, and turned around.

Luffy ran over to him, a worried look on his face, but Ace already knew before he even opened his mouth. Gritting his teeth, he tried not to let his emotions show on his face.

"Ace! Sabo's in trouble! Bluejam and his men are surrounding him." Luffy explained.

"Well, we'll just have to do something about that won't we." Ace told him. Luffy grinned and Ace looked around for something they could use.

* * *

Sabo had found plenty of usable wood to repair the treehouse and was on his way back to where he thought the other two might be.

"I think this should be enough.." He said to himself, out loud. A glint of light caught his eye and he looked down. His eyes widened in surprise and a smile lit his face. He knelt down and picked up the worn telescope on the ground.

"It's a telescope! Luffy will sure be happy!" He exclaimed. 'I just have to make sure he gets it this time', he thought. Before he could think any more on the subject, he heard gross laughter from in front of him.

Looking up he saw Bluejam and his men approaching him.

'Shit! That's right! It was right after I found the telescope! Damn it how could I forget!' He berated himself.

"Yo, Kiddo." Drawled Bluejam, voice dripping with mock respect. "I never would have guessed that one of the infamous three troublemakers was a noble!"

'Hmph. If you think that's something, you should wait and see what I become.' The thought crossed his mind before he could help it.

Glaring at Bluejam, he put the telescope in his pocket for safekeeping, making sure to secure it this time so it wouldn't fall out. Might as well play along and get this farce over with, he thought.

"Bluejam! How do you know that?!" He growled at the pisspoor excuse for a pirate. He looked up and realized that Bluejam's man had slowly been surrounding him.

"Hey, don't hurt him, now." Bluejam ordered, but it seemed more like an afterthought than anything else. One of his men darted forward, attempting to catch Sabo from behind, but he was too quick. Especially since he knew it was coming. He jumped, turning and catching the man in the head with a well-aimed kick.

When he landed, he turned and shouted, "You wanna fight, ya bastard?!"

A sound drew his attention and he looked up behind him. A barrel was tumbling down one of the piles of trash and soon after went tumbling into one of the men. With a roar, Ace and Luffy popped out from the barrel after it broke upon collision.

"Ace! Luffy!" He called, happy to see them.

"You alright, Sabo?" Ace asked, while Luffy was wobbling behind him, mumbling about his eyes spinning, before promptly falling over. Sabo nodded in response to his question.

Smirking, Ace turned to face the pirates. "If all three of us work together, these guys aren't scary at all!"

Luffy revived himself, and bragged, "That's right! We even beat the great tiger of Mt. Corvo!"

The men, none too pleased with three little kids making fun of them, glared. "You little brats!"

"To finish the fight quickly, we just have to go for the captain!" Ace stated. At Luffy's yell of "Yeah!" They all charged forward.

Darting this way and that, they made short work of Bluejam's thugs and were quickly in front of the pirate captain. Bluejam quickly pulled out his gun from his waistband and fired a shot that landed near Ace's feet.

The three stopped short before splitting up. Ace and Sabo took cover on one side while Luffy darted to the other.

Bluejam looked pleased. "Alright, kids. Stay where you are!" He told them while still pointing his gun at them.

"Like hell we'll listen to you!" Shouted Ace, and he darted out from behind the rubble. Sabo did the same thing, not wanting to get caught from behind like before. Luffy wasn't as quick on the uptake and he was pinned down by one of the men.

"Move! Or i'll send you flying!" Luffy threatened the one holding him. The man, of course, did not listen.

"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo shouted, starting towards their brother. Ace knocked the man out of the way while Sabo grabbed Luffy.

"What are you idiots doing? Capture them!" Bluejam shouted, getting pissed off. His men, getting frustrated, tried backing the boys into a corner. Which was a bad idea on their part.

Ace and Sabo flew at the men, pipes swinging. Luffy had dropped his pipe but was still doing his best to help. He was, at the least, trying to not get captured again.

They'd almost finished off the men when Bluejam had had enough. He pointed his gun and fired shots.

One grazed Ace's arm and leg each, while another cut Sabo's cheek. Seeing his brothers hurt, Luffy started freaking out and started yelling their names in panic.

"Ace! Sabo!"

"We're fine Lu!" Ace told him, but the shot to his leg had hurt him and made him stumble a bit. Sabo was likewise taken aback. He'd stopped moving when he'd been hit. That moment of hesitation was all Bluejam's remaining men needed. They each quickly grabbed one of the boys, making sure to hold them so they couldn't escape.

"Shit! Let me go!" Yelled Ace futilely.

"Damn you!" Sabo shouted at Bluejam. Luffy was just crying out in panic.

"Let go of me, you basta-" his words died on his lips though when he saw others approaching. Sabo felt his blood run cold. 'No! Dammit! Not again! I can't do this to them again!'

He struggled harder against the pirate holding him but to no avail.

The gate guards and _that man_ -he was **not** his father- stopped before them and that man glanced around, obviously disgusted at their surroundings.

"We caught him, as promised Master. We tried to make sure he was not harmed, but these boys… it was their fault that he got a little scratch on him." Bluejam told him, lying through his teeth. Outlook said nothing, simply hmphing.

Bluejam signaled to one of his men, the one holding Sabo and he started walking forward. Sabo struggled even harder, doing all he could to try and get free.

"Damn it, you…" Sabo said in frustration. He heard Ace call his name. It was the second time around but Sabo still couldn't believe that Outlook would go so far as hiring pirates, just to get him back.

"Hmmm. So it was these two then? The ruffians who led my Sabo down a path of evil?" Outlook mused out loud. Sabo hissed, at Outlook claiming Sabo as _his_.

"No! Give Sabo back!" Luffy yelled defiantly. But Sabo could hear the panic creeping into his voice.

"What do you mean, 'give him back'?" Outlook demanded. "Sabo is _my_ child! It is the responsibility of every child to live according to the will of the parents who gave him life!"

"You have some nerve, lying to Sabo and convincing him to run away from home!" Outlook accused Ace and Luffy. "Just a measly pair of kids like you! Are you attempting to steal my fortune?" Sabo wanted to gag. Of course. With Outlook it's always about money and reputation.

Ace wasn't having any of it though. "What was that, you bastard?!" The one holding him swiftly face-planted Ace into the ground.

A drop of Ace's blood flew up and hit Outlook in the face. "Hey now, pirate! Be careful how you handle these children! You got some of this inferior filth's blood on my face!" If Sabo wasn't trying his best to get free, he'd have laughed at Outlook, considering exactly whose blood just hit his face.

Ace tried leaning up but didn't get that far, while Luffy called his name. Knowing it was about time, Sabo was about to slip from the pirate's hold when Ace's voice stopped him.

"Don't screw with me, you bastard! If you were really all that great, Sabo wouldn't have left in the first place! We didn't lie to him but if we had, what does that say about you that he would so willingly leave?!" Ace yelled at him.

"Yeah! Sabo's home isn't with you! It's with us!" Added Luffy.

"He's your child? HA! Don't give me that shit! Who someone's parent is means nothing whatsoever!" Ace continued. Sabo just stared at him. Both shocked that memory was deviating _again_ and the fact that those words just came out of Ace's mouth.

"A-Ace…." Sabo couldn't really say anything, he was too shocked.

"Hmph! Silence you brat. You are a rat of a child who knows absolutely _nothing_." Outlook signaled to one of the gate guards who came up and took hold of Sabo. "I've had enough of this!" He looked at Bluejam. "I trust that you pirates will take care of the others."

"Of course we will, master. After all, we've received payment. Rest assured, i'll finish off these two so they never bother your child again." Bluejam responded. Sabo snorted. As if! He clearly hadn't finished either of them off. What a load of crap… But still.

Things were different this time.

"Wait a second, Bluejam!" Sabo called, slipping out of the guard's arms. "F-" he hated saying it, but he had to. "Father, It's alright! I understand!"

"What do you understand?" Asked Outlook, looking quite displeased.

"Shit! Don't do it, Sabo!" Ace yelled.

"Sabo no!" Luffy screamed in panic.

He hated himself, for hurting them again, before the words even left his mouth. "I'll do whatever you ask of me. I'll live just as you tell me to, so...don't hurt these two. That's all I ask." He didn't look at his brothers, he didn't want to see the hurt and panic on their faces.

"Please. They're my irreplaceable brothers." He kept his head down.

"Sabo…" Ace said, barely above a whisper. Luffy was full on panicking now.

"SABO! No! DON'T LEAVE US. Please! I don't want you to go!" Luffy was screaming, and Sabo could hear that he was crying.

Outlook completely ignored them. "In that case, come back home, now! Stop with this ridiculous pirate game, right now!" Swallowing, Sabo turned to leave.

Ace yelled, "HEY! DON'T GO! SAB-" He heard a thud and a pirate yell be quiet. Ace wasn't giving up just yet though.

"Sabo! Just run! We'll be fine!" Ace told him. "We were gonna share our freedom together, remember?!"

"Sabo! Don't go!" Luffy yelled. He sounded like he was going hoarse from screaming so much. Sabo had to clench his fists to prevent himself from reacting.

"Are you gonna let it end like this?!" Ace shouted. "We're your irreplaceable brothers?! Well so are you! SABO!" At this point, Sabo was in tears, but he didn't cry out.

Ace was still yelling though. "You're our irreplaceable brother as well! PLEASE. THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!" Sabo jerked at that. Another….way? Before he could think any more on it, the guard was pushing him forward, away from the brothers he loved so much.

"SABO!" Ace and Luffy yelled in unison. As he, Outlook and the gate guards were walking away, he felt the telescope slip a little. His eyes widened slightly and he squeezed his arm to his side to prevent it from falling out this time. He lifted his head and continued forward.

Yeah. He wasn't going to let it end like this. Consequences be damned, he was getting back to his brothers, one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for reading and for all the nice comments!  
>   
> Also, is anyone else keeping up with the manga because holy shit last week's chapter was **so good**.


	7. The Fire

Ace wanted to scream. Again. Again! They had lost Sabo _again_! Was he just that _weak?!_ He knew that he was significantly weaker than he was used to, having lost years of muscle, battle experience, Devil Fruit, as well as just _height_.

But he was aware this time, dammit! Shouldn't that count for something?! Apparently, it didn't. He could hear Luffy sobbing and it only made it worse because he'd let something happen to make him cry again.

"Damn it! Not again! Not again…." He mumbled, gritting his teeth.

Luffy looked up him sharply. Ace panicked for a moment. 'Shit, did he hear me?!'

Bluejam and his men didn't give them anytime to dwell on it however. One of the men walked up to Bluejam and asked him, "Captain, what do we do with these kids?"

"Bring them back to our base." He answered.

"Yes, sir."

They were tied up before they took the two brothers back to the shoddy little hideout next to their ship. When they got there, they dropped the boys next to each other on the floor.

"You bastards! Untie us! Fight us again! This time, we won't lose!" Luffy was howling at them .

"Stay quiet!" Bluejam yelled.

"What did you bring us out here, for?!" Ace demanded, glaring at the pirate.

"Those nobles have it made, eh?" Bluejam started, an almost wistful look on his face. "You kids think so too, right? They look down on all of us and think we're trash...while they live their proud, carefree life….Wouldn't you say he's better off living as a noble?" He asked them, referring to Sabo.

"What the hell are you trying to say?!" Ace yelled growing irritated.

"Pirates are much better, of course!" Luffy exclaimed. "Sabo said so, too!"

"I feel sorry for you two. Hey untie their ropes." He ordered, looking up at one of his men. "Why do you think the child of a noble would leave High Town and go to the Grey Terminal? All nobles are the same, whether they're adults or kids. There's no doubt he thought we were all fools. In his heart, he was looking down on you two as well."

"Don't be ridiculous! Sabo isn't that kind of guy!" Ace was quickly growing tired of listening to Bluejam's preaching.

"That's right! We're brothers!" Luffy stated, mad that anyone would dare suggest otherwise.

"Oh, is that so? Please forgive me." He feigned apologizing, mocking them. He leaned forward to stare at them.

"But you two won't ever go near that kid again, will you? If you're planning to do that, I've got no choice but to kill you right here, right now. If you think he's your brother, then it's better for him, too, if you just left him alone." Bluejam told them.

Ace gritted his teeth. This was where he'd made his mistake before. Why he had listened to _Bluejam_ of all people he didn't know. But he didn't listen to his words this time.

"But Sabo hated High Town!" Luffy told Bluejam, not a single doubt on his face. Ace almost wished he could see things as simply as Luffy did sometimes. Maybe he wouldn't have listened to Bluejam the first time...

"Just forget about all that. That's what kindness is. You'll understand it when you grow up." Bluejam continued, like he was some kind of all-wise parent, patronizing their child. Ace had to do his best not to snort at his words.

"Oh and...we've had our differences in the past, what with that Porchemy incident...but what's past is past. Or rather, I like strong guys like you. So, I've got a suggestion for you. It's not a bad deal. I'm short on men right now. Will you help me out with a job? Oh, it's a simple job. There's nothing dangerous about it. I've got a map of the Grey Terminal here. You've gotta carry some goods to the spots mark with an _X_. That's all. So, are you up for it?" Bluejam offered them.

"HELL NO. YOU GUYS ARE BAD. I DON'T WANNA HELP YOU!" Luffy shouted at him. Ace tried not to look alarmed at Luffy's outburst. He put a hand out in front of his little brother. "BUT ACE! THESE GUYS AREN'T GOOD. It's their fault Sabo left us…."

"I know Lu. And don't worry. I don't intend on accepting anything they offer. I know they're bad news and I have no intention of going along with their scheme." Ace reassured Luffy. At his words, Luffy's face lit up.

Bluejam's, however, didn't.

"Well now, that's just no good. It's such a simple job. I don't see what the problem is. We'd even pay you for your troubles." Bluejam tried reasoning with them. Ace just glared at him.

"Go to hell." Was his answer.

"Hmph. Looks like we'll have to make you see to reason then. Men."

His subordinates all rose and surrounded the boys and all Ace could think was 'Shit.'

* * *

Wincing, Luffy spoke while doing his best not to drop the crates he was carrying. "Ace...I don't like this and I don't like that Sabo's not with us!"

Ace was also struggling with his crates. He could already feel the bruises from the beating from Bluejam's men forming. "You're gonna have to deal with it Lu. I want to go get Sabo too. But we're really not in a position to be worrying about him right now. We gotta get through this. Don't worry, I won't let it end like this." Not this time. We're going to get our brother back.

* * *

Instead of letting the boys go back to their own home to sleep, they'd locked the two away in one of their spare rooms. The boys had no choice but to try and get some sleep so they laid down and did just that.

"I wonder what Sabo's doing." Bemoaned Luffy after a while.

"Shut up. Go to sleep. We promised to forget about Sabo for now, right?" Ace told him grumpily.

"Alright.." Luffy replied sounding none too pleased about it.

"We have to focus on ourselves for now Lu." Ace told him.

"Sabo…" Luffy said softly.

"Luffy!" Ace sat up, ready to get onto him, but found his brother was fast asleep. He let out a breath and pulled Luffy closer, wishing he had his Devil Fruit right now, so he could keep the two of them warm.

"Telescope….." Luffy murmured in his sleep. Ace shook his head and soon followed after.

The next day, after they'd finished setting all the crates up at the spots marked, the pirates had dragged the boys back to their hideout and were currently divulging their plan.

"You can't burn down the Grey Terminal! People live here!" Ace shouted, hoping he was acting convincingly shocked. He'd already known what the plan was, but it was still not pleasant to hear about it again.

"You idiot! Don't be so loud!" Bluejam chastised him. "Or else someone might hear you!"

Luffy of course started freaking out. "This is awful! We have to let everyone know! He really is a bad guy! I knew it!"

"I told you not to cause a scene!" Bluejam said, irritated. Turning to one of his men, he ordered, "Hey. Restrain them." In the background Luffy was yelling, calling Bluejam a bastard. His men grabbed them and restrained them.

"It's not like I'm the one responsible for all this…" He continued calmly. Ace stopped struggling at that. That's right….it was those damn nobles. His thoughts drifted to Sabo, hoping he was alright.

"Let go of me, dammit!" Luffy was still yelling.

"The boxes you placed around here yesterday were filled with oil and explosives. Soon, a fire will be unleashed that is so fierce nobody will escape it." Bluejam said, a hint of smugness in his voice. Ace glared at him. If he had his Devil Fruit _he'd_ be able to contain it...but he didn't. And the reminder was not helping his mood.

"N-No…" Luffy said.

"Are you out of your mind?" Ace bit at him. Bluejam just chuckled at the two of them.

"I guess this is a little too much to handle, even for troublemakers like you? But, now you know the plan. I can't afford to let you go, anymore. But there is one thing I'd like to know before the fire starts. You two...have a large stash of treasure hidden away somewhere, don't you?" Bluejam walked forward, suddenly looking menacing in a way he hadn't before.

They both gritted their teeth, glaring at him and not saying a word. Bluejam narrowed his eyes at the two.

"Well...you boys gonna spill it or what?" He asked. Ace 'hmphed' while Luffy shouted 'Never!'. Bluejam was getting ready to hit one of them, when one of his men spoke up.

"Captain? I don't think they're gonna tell anytime soon and I don't think we have enough time to beat it out of them…" His captain looked at him, thinking over his words.

"I suppose you're right. Ah well. Not like it matters too much. After the Master pulls through on his end of the deal, we won't really need it anyway." And he laughed.

"Tie them up! We can't have them escaping, and we especially can't have them warning the others." He ordered. His men picked the boys up and carried them into the hideout and tied them to the pillars in the room.

Not long after Bluejam and his crew left, Ace heard the gunshots start to go off.

"Shit. This isn't good. We need to get out of here. And now!" He said and started looking around to see if there was anything he cut use to cut the ropes. There were some things but none of them were close enough for him to grab.

He could hear the fire getting closer. He was doing his best to keep his panic down and surprisingly Luffy wasn't freaking out all too bad. He was still blubbering like a crybaby, but Ace honestly thought he'd be worse.

The fire had finally reached the hideout and the heat from the flames caused the windows to shatter. Ace turned his head away from the flying glass, trying to avoid getting cut. He felt something land near his shorts.

Looking down, he saw it was just what he needed! A decent sized piece of glass! He wiggled a little trying to grab it, and winced a little when the edges dug into his hand. He worked as fast as he could, cutting at the rope.

Eventually Luffy gave in and started whining. "It's hot! Too hot!" Thankfully the ropes decided to give in the same time he did. The rope split and Luffy went tumbling forward while Ace stood up.

"Alright!"

He looked around, noting how badly surrounded they were, with fire on all sides.

"Dammit! We got ourselves into an awful mess!" Ace said. Luffy jumped up and clung to Ace.

"Ace! I don't wanna die! It's so hot!" He cried.

Huffing, he angrily told Luffy, "If you don't stop whining, i'll leave you behind!"

That shut Luffy up. He immediately sucked in his lips, trying to not complain. "It's not hot…"

The two ran outside and it only seemed hotter, if that was even possible.

"Ouch, it's hot!" Luffy said.

"It's like an ocean of fire outside!" Ace commented, not finding any comfort in being surrounded by flames like he used to.

"It hurts to breathe…" Luffy quickly realized he was complaining and sucked in his lips again. "I mean, it doesn't hurt!"

"We'll get out of this, somehow!" Ace told him. "I'm here with you!" They continued running, trying to find a way, if there was one, out of this blazing hell.

"This feels like Level 4 all over again…." Luffy mumbled between ragged breaths. Ace almost stopped running. He wasn't sure if he was hearing things correctly. A giant beam of wood -that was on fire- fell over and almost landed on top of them.

"Run, Luffy!" He pushed his concern about what Luffy said to the back of his mind. It didn't really matter at the moment anyway.

"I wonder if the others managed to escape?" Luffy asked, louder than whatever he'd said before.

"This is no time to worry about other people!" Ace chastised him. Of course the idiot would be worried about others! He coughed, the smoke in the air started to affect him. "Damn it! I can't even tell where we are!"

"Who said you could run away, you little troublemakers?!" Shouted a voice from behind them. They both turned around in surprise.

"Bluejam!" Luffy stated.

"Why are you still here when you're the one who caused this fire?! I thought you'd escaped long ago!" Ace asked him. He didn't really remember if Bluejam had told him the first time they went through this.

"Shut your trap, you damn brat!" Bluejam yelled at him "It's hopeless for us. You see… we're in an unexpected pinch at the moment. Humans are strange creatures, don't you think? When we're pushed to the very brink of despair, we laugh." The men all had strange looks on their faces and they were laughing.

"These guys are acting strange…" Luffy noted. Ace realized that they were really in danger now. These guys had gone off the deep end.

"Luffy! Let's go!" Ace shouted to him. They two took off running, away from the deranged pirates.

"Don't let them get away!" Bluejam ordered. His men surrounded them and cut off all their escape routes. Bluejam continued speaking to them. "We did this job together. We're partners, right? Let's die together." Ace flinched. He still wasn't entirely sure if he was dead or not. This entire situation was pushing him to believe he wasn't but him dying was still a sore subject either way.

"Who'd want to die with you?! Anyway, I'm not dying here!" Ace yelled at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luffy look up at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Ace…"

"You're no fun...Oh, right. You still haven't told us where you hid your loot, right? We'll take care of it before it's consumed by the flames. So tell me where it is!" Bluejam demanded.

"Your lives are in danger, and you're worried about loot?!" Ace asked, as shocked as the first time.

"So why wouldn't you tell me, right?" Bluejam said, chuckling.

"He's snapped completely…" Ace said. This was really not good. Pirates are always a dangerous lot. A full pirate crew versus children is a dangerous situation. A full pirate crew, of pirates who have _snapped,_ against children was the worst possible.

"If you don't collect it, it'll all go to waste. Soon, it's gonna be destroyed just like my ship! Wouldn't that be a waste?" The look in Bluejam's eyes were that of a deranged animal.

"Don't be ridiculous! That treasure is…" Luffy started.

"Alright! I'll tell you." Ace cut him off.

"Ace! You and Sabo spent years gathering up that treasure…" Luffy argued.

"Sabo will understand! Right now, our lives are more important! Remember, I said we need to get through this first? We can't do that if we're worrying about a stupid lump of treasure."

"Ace…." Luffy said, starting to tear up again, but quickly changed to being angry at Bluejam.

Ace grabbed a plank of wood and drew of rough map of where the treasure was.

"All the treasure we've gathered in the past six years is inside the trunk of this tree." Ace explained, handing Bluejam the wood.

"I see."

Luffy bowed his head, biting back tears.

"Don't cry!" Ace told him. "It'll be alright. This isn't the end."

Bluejam stared a moment at the 'map' before handing it off to the guy behind him, and he looked at something behind them.

Suddenly arms grabbed him and Luffy from behind. 'Shit!' He thought.

"What are you doing?! I told you where it was, didn't I?!" Ace yelled.

"Indeed, this isn't the end. There's still a chance that you lied to me. You're coming with me." Bluejam told him.

"You can't be serious! While we waste time doing that, we'll lose any chance of getting out of here! You just go on your own!" Ace shouted. Bluejam lifted his gun and pointed it right at his head.

"Don't make me any angrier than I already am! Even if I had to depend on the loot from some kids...I swear I'll live through this, return to power, and get my revenge on those nobles! I'm sure that brother of yours is no different from the rest of them! They think of themselves as privileged people! They can't see other humans as anything but trash!" He ranted.

"Sabo doesn't think like that!" Ace argued. Sabo was _not_ like them. He was their brother!

"He's just like them, you dumbass! He only hung around with you two because he wanted to feel superior!" Bluejam told him.

"You're wrong!" Luffy yelled.

"Why would someone, with parents as rich as his, face any hardship? You were just used for the amusement of some noble kid! Really, he was looking down on you, laughing to himself and holding his nose!" Bluejam was full on shouting at them now.

"Don't say another bad word about Sabo!" Ace had had enough of listening to his bullshit.

"Yeah! Sabo only wants to be free!" Luffy yelled before biting into the wrist of the one who was holding him. He dropped Luffy, who pulled out his pipe to defend himself.

The pirate pulled out his sword and turned on Luffy. "You damn brat!"

Ace shouted, "Luffy!", as the pirate brought the sword down, breaking Luffy's pipe in half. Ace watched as blood spurt upwards and he saw Luffy's bandage fly off.

Ace's eyes widened in panic as Luffy started screaming in pain. The pirate stood poised over Luffy, holding his sword over him.

"I'll kill you!" He said and he proceeded to laugh as Luffy rolled around on the ground, in pain.

Ace struggled, trying to break free from his captor's grip. "Let him go!" Ace yelled. He watched in horror as the pirate readied his blade, then brought it swinging down towards his brother.

A heart wrenching panic seized him and he shouted " _KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF LUFFY!"_

The world around him seemed to slow down. The nearby fires went out and all the pirates started dropping, unconscious, including the one holding him. As he dropped to the ground, the world seemed to right itself and the fires were back.

Bluejam was the only pirate standing, but even he had broken out in a sweat that had very little to do with the hell blazing around them. He looked around at all his fallen men in shock and eventually settled his gaze, a scathing glare, on the boys.

Ace wasn't paying attention though. He ran over to Luffy to check on him. "Luffy! Are you alright?!"

Luffy sat up a little and looked at Ace in...awe? Shock? He tried speaking. "A-Ace….that was….Con-" He was cut off, however, by a hand grabbing Ace around the back of his neck.

"What did you just do?!" Demanded Bluejam, angrily. He threw Ace onto the ground.

"Damn it all…." Ace said before Bluejam slammed his foot on Ace.

"You disgusting little brat!" He pointed his gun at Ace. "Are you trying to make a fool out of me too?!"

Ace struggled, trying to get out from under Bluejam's foot but he had very little luck. "Shut up, you piece of trash!" He retorted back at the pirate.

"Damn you…" Bluejam said as he pulled his finger back on the trigger.

A gunshot rang out.

* * *

"ACE!" Luffy yelled watching his brother struggle under Bluejam's foot. "STOP IT!" He coughed. Everything hurt and it was hard to breathe. What had just happened….Ace had used Conqueror's Haki. It was what he had done at Marineford subconsciously.

He hadn't perfected his control over it during his time with Rayleigh, but he knew enough to recognize it when he saw it now. Ace had it too!

But it didn't matter right now! Bluejam had been unaffected and he was about to shoot Ace!

He heard the shot and just stared, stunned.

"Dadan!" He screamed. Because it was Dadan who was standing there, hand around the barrel of the gun, directing it away from Ace's head.

"Just give it up, you sea monster!" She yelled as she swung her axe around to meet Bluejam's sword. "LET ACE GO!" She managed to push Bluejam back.

Luffy heard footsteps coming from behind him. He turned as best as he could and saw the rest of the bandits running towards them.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked them.

"We finally found them!" Mogra said. Dogra had run over to assist Luffy.

"Oi! That's a terrible wound, Luffy! Are you alright?" Dogra asked him. Luffy wanted to answer and say he was fine, that he's had worse, a lot worse. But he couldn't. All he could manage was Dogra's name. Dogra swung his head side to side, looking around.

"I don't see that Sabo kid…" Dogra noted. Luffy felt a pang in his heart. Sabo...he missed him.

"Sabo is safe….He's not here…" Luffy managed to tell him.

Bluejam was walking back towards them.

Ace readied himself to keep fighting, and seeing this Mogra grabbed his arm. "Ace..."

"You're the leader of the monkeys on Mt. Corvo, right?" Bluejam asked, addressing Dadan.

"I'm Dadan, the mountain bandit!" She told him. "As fate would have it, I'm a foster parent for these kids." One of the bandits, had picked Luffy up gently and laid him over his shoulder.

Bluejam looked decidedly unimpressed at Dadan's words. She continued speaking.

"And no parent, even if they're just a foster parent, could stand by and watch someone try to kill their kids!" Dadan declared. Luffy had to wonder if Dadan realized she just admitted to being their mom essentially. If he wasn't in so much pain, he'd be giggling at her.

Dadan readied her axe and told Bluejam, "If you give up now, I'll let you go. And if you don't give up, we'll take you down by force!"

Bluejam's mouth curved in a smile. "I'd like to see you try." He told her.

"Would you now? Alright, then…" The two stared at each other for a tense moment before Dadan cried out "RUN AWAY!" She turned around and started hauling butt out of there, the rest of the bandits following with a chorus of "Alright, boss!"

Dogra called behind him, "Hey! What are you two doing?!"

Mogra was trying to pull Ace along but Ace wasn't giving in and he was holding his ground.

"Ace, c'mon!" He told him pleadingly before he jerked out of Mogra's grasp. "Ace!"

"I...WILL NOT RUN AWAY!" Ace declared while glaring Bluejam down.

Dadan heard him and stopped running, turning around.

Mogra was yelling at him. "Ace, what are you talking about?! Just leave it already! You know how dangerous Bluejam is! A kid like you can't beat him. He's on a totally different level!"

Luffy tried getting of the grasp of the bandit who was holding him. "I-I'll fight too…" He said.

"No, Luffy!" The bandit told him. But Luffy kept struggling. He had to. He had to help Ace! The last time Ace fought someone alone he had…..NO! LUFFY COULDN'T LEAVE HIM! HE DIDN'T WANT TO LOSE ACE AGAIN.

Dadan walked forward and placed herself between her men and Bluejam.

"You guys...Take Luffy and go on ahead." She told them.

"B-Boss…."

"I'll stay with Ace, and make sure he comes back with me!" She stated, looking more imposing than Luffy had ever seen her. She actually looked like a bandit!

There was a chorus of "Boss…"

"GO!" She yelled.

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" All the bandits took off running, taking Luffy with them.

"ACE!" He kept struggling. No! He. Had. To. Go. Back. And. Help! The bandit didn't let go of him though.

They all kept running and running, further away from the fire, away from Dadan and Ace. Eventually they made it to some hills, and they all stopped and looked back. It looked like an actual sea of fire, the size and intensity so massive. That Ace was in there, and he wasn't invulnerable to fires right now was tearing Luffy apart.

He'd already lost Ace to the flames once before! He didn't want to go through that again! The bandits and him all stood there, yelling out for Ace and for Dadan. Not a one of them had dry eyes.

After a while, and long before the flames died down, one of the bandits commented how they needed to bandage Luffy so they all reluctantly headed back home. Luffy was crying the entire time. He hated leaving Ace behind again.

Once they finished tending to his wounds, they'd tried to talk him into getting some sleep. But he didn't want to sleep! He needed to go to Ace. He needed to help his brother.

It wasn't long before his exhaustion gave into the bandits' suggestion and he was out like a light.

The next day he didn't rouse till the afternoon. He got up and tried heading out of the house but he was having difficulty just walking. Mogra tried stopping him. Before Mogra could carry him back inside however, he grabbed at his shirt, getting the bandit's attention.

"Please...help me." Luffy begged him, between difficult breaths. Mogra looked at him with worry.

"Now, now. You can't go running around with your wounds Luffy. We'll just have to wait for Boss and Ace to come back." He told him.

"No! Not….that…" Luffy told him. Mogra's eyes widened.

"You weren't going to go after them?" Mogra asked, uncertain. He tried shaking his head in answer but it hurt too much.

"No. It's…" Dammit. Everything hurt so badly… "The Pirate...Fund…." At Mogra's confused look, he tried to explain. "Ace...Sabo…'s treasure…..Ace….told..Bluejam….Don't want…..him to have….it. I need...to...move it….before he finds.. It. Help me...please?" Luffy asked again. He knew he wouldn't be able to get there and move all that treasure in his current state so he hoped Mogra would agree to help him out.

"Luffy, I don't think…" Mogra began.

"Please!" Luffy nearly shouted, determination set in him. Mogra stared at him, wondering what to do. He thought it over for a moment before he called to Dogra.

"I'm going out for a bit. Luffy will be with me. We'll be back soon. I promise." Mogra told him. Dogra's mouth fell out in shock and he started to argue how that was a bad idea and Luffy needs to rest and he's too injured, but Mogra just adjusted Luffy so Dogra could see his expression better.

Dogra's arguments died down. "You're not going after Boss and Ace, right?" Luffy shook his head. "You won't be going near the Grey Terminal, right?" Another shake. "You'll be careful, right?" A nod this time. Dogra sighed, relenting.

He looked up at Mogra. "Make sure to bring him back safe. I don't want to think about what would happen if the Boss came back and you two were missing, or worse, in trouble." Mogra smiled knowingly.

"Don't worry. We'll be back soon. I promise." Mogra assured him. And then the two headed out.

The forest was quiet currently, none of the animals were out and about. They were all in hiding because of the fire. The two made their way, slow, because Mogra didn't want to cause Luffy anymore pain than he was already in. Luffy quietly pointed out directions and they walked on.

"Oi...Luffy? I'm surprised you're not trying to go after Ace and Boss right now." Mogra stated. Luffy answered his implied question.

"It's okay. Ace is strong, and Dadan is a man amongst men. They'll be fine!" Luffy told him. Mogra chuckled quietly at Luffy's description of Dadan. "Besides...Bluejam has already taken enough from us. I'm not letting him get the Pirate Fund as well."

Mogra wanted to ask what it was that Bluejam took from them but chose not, deciding it was better left alone.

Eventually they came to the spot where they had hidden the treasure. Mogra made sure to check around carefully before going near it, wanting to make sure Bluejam hadn't already made his way there. The coast was clear and checked the hiding spot. Mogra let out a yell of surprise while Luffy let out a yell of victory.

The treasure was still there! They had gotten there first! Take _that_ , Bluejam! Luffy grinned, despite his injuries and pain. Mogra was shocked by _how much_ there was. Ace and Sabo had collected all this?

Shaking his head, he got to work, collecting it all up so that he could carry it all, as well as Luffy.

"Where do you want me to take it, Luffy?" Mogra asked. Luffy thought about it for a good minute, before eventually coming to a decision.

"Let's just put it at the treehouse. Me and Ace can move it all again, later." He told Mogra. He nodded and accepted that. Mogra knew the way to the treehouse so Luffy didn't have to give him directions this time and could just rest.

When they arrived, Mogra took his time going up the tree. Walking with the treasure and Luffy had been difficult enough, let alone climbing a tree with them. He followed Luffy's instructions about where to put the loot. Once Luffy was satisfied, they headed back home.

The bandits didn't even bother disguising their relief when they saw the two of them walk in.

Looking around, Luffy voiced his question.

"Where's Dogra?"

"He went to go look for the Boss and Ace. The Grey Terminal is crawling with guards so only one of us could go." One of the men explained. Luffy thought about it for a second before accepting it, nodding.

"I hope Ace comes back soon…." Luffy said sadly. He found a spot against one of the walls and sat down, drawing his knees up to his chin. The temporary atmosphere of relief and joy that had happened upon their return, quickly faded back into one of tension and worry.

No one said anything. Not even Luffy.

And so they waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had a bit of indecision for this chapter. I really like cliffhangers and I wanted to leave it at a really good cliffhanger, plus I'm trying to keep these chapters all about the same length.  
> But if I left it at the cliffhanger the next chapter would have been really short and I don't want that either so. For those who would have yelled at me for where I would have stopped it, rejoice.


	8. After The Fire

Two days passed by without a sound when suddenly the bandit that was on lookout duty, came running in yelling.

"Hey guys! They've…." He stopped to catch his breath. Everyone stood up.

"What is it?" Mogra asked.

"They've returned!" Said the lookout, tears of joy in his eyes.

Immediately everyone tried to get outside to see, although everyone got themselves stuck in a pileup in the doorway. Luffy and Mogra made it outside first, although Luffy was struggling to stay standing. His wounds were nowhere near healed yet.

Upon seeing Ace and Dadan, relief instantly flooded Luffy. He was so relieved he started crying.

The bandits were all celebrating and cheering. One of them studied their wounds and took note of how serious they were.

"Those injuries look horrible…. Hurry! Tend to the Boss's wounds!" Everyone went inside and Dadan's wounds were seen to. Ace's shirt had been horribly burned so he was changing into another one.

Not able to contain himself anymore, he launched himself at his brother, clinging onto him. "Ace!"

"Luffy…" He stared down at the sobbing mess that was Luffy. "Did you think I was dead?" He asked him. Luffy's blubbering only got worse.

"Dut...I….bidt wat...looz you...agih….." His words were an incoherent mess and Ace could barely understand him. Ace hit him over the head and told him to stop crying. He was about to get onto him for thinking he was dead when he wasn't (or didn't think he was anymore. He still wasn't sure.) when he realized what Luffy said.

Or what he thought he said anyway.

"Luffy." He said quietly. "What did you just say?" Luffy, still crying, started to repeat what he'd blubbered but then stopped halfway. He sucked in his lips, and looked away from Ace.

"Mutton." Luffy said with his mouth still closed. Ace leveled a hard stare at him, and Luffy started sweating nervously but he still kept his mouth shut.

"Luffy…." Ace said threateningly but Luffy just shook his head, still not wanting to speak.

"Now, now, let him be…" Mogra said, trying to diffuse the situation before it escalated. "Luffy is just happy you're back."

Ace didn't say anything for a moment, while staring at Luffy. Not saying a word, Ace picked up Luffy and they headed outside. The bandits tried to follow, worried about what he was going to do but he told them to leave them alone.

"We need to talk. I'm not going to hurt him." He told them before stalking off, Luffy in his arms.

When they were a small distance away from the house, but still close enough not to worry the bandits, Ace plopped Luffy down gently, mindful of his wounds.

"Speak." Ace ordered him. Luffy shook his head, refusing to meet Ace's eyes. He sighed, aggravated. He knew he wasn't going to get anywhere like this, so he knelt down in front of Luffy, trying to relax his irritation so that Luffy would be more relaxed.

"Luffy." He still wouldn't look at him. "Did you….did you say….you didn't want to lose me….again?" Luffy flinched but still wouldn't look at him. That was all the answered Ace needed though.

"Lu. What did you mean by 'again'?" Ace asked him, trying to keep his voice even. He hoped it didn't give away how fast his heart was beating currently. On and off he had wondered if was he actually was alive, that this wasn't some dream or afterlife thing. But he'd never let himself seriously hope.

A sob escaped Luffy but he still said nothing. Ace was impressed that he was managing to not say a thing this long, but he was slightly annoyed that it was now of all times that he'd learned how to keep his big mouth shut.

"Luffy. Please tell me." His voice said, softening, pleading. 'Luffy… Please tell me it's true.' Finally Luffy broke his silence.

"No! Don't wanna! You'll hit me and call me an idiot or crazy…" He said dejectedly, facing Ace.

Ace sighed. He knew he hadn't really given Luffy any reason to believe he _wouldn't_ do just that (at this point when they were children). So how was he going to get him to answer..? Remembering something, he decided to change tracks. It was another question he had, but because of the situation, he hadn't gotten around to asking it.

"The other night…in the fire, with Bluejam. You started to say something. What was it?" Ace asked. He tried to keep it vague. If he was wrong, he didn't want to sound crazy talking about some weird power. Luffy tensed and looked away, and that told Ace that he knew exactly what Ace was referring to.

Ace sat completely down. Not saying anything for a while, trying to get his thoughts straight as well as calm his racing heart.

Luffy was worried about losing him.. _again_. Somehow Luffy recognized Conqueror's Haki. The more he started thinking about it, the more he started seeing oddities in Luffy's behavior.

The way he'd run in the direction of where Sabo was in trouble before it had happened. Him being more vocal than he was before, especially when Bluejam dragged them into this mess with his 'job' and when that noble took Sabo. Him comparing the fire to Level 4, which the only Level 4 that Ace knew of that was hot, was at Impel Down.

Was it possible that Luffy was...that Luffy knew….That he was...He didn't even know what to think. And he hadn't since the night of the storm. But right now. He was really at a loss for what to think.

He knew what all the signs pointed to, but he wasn't sure if he really believed it. By all rights, he was supposed to be _dead_. Even if he was reliving his memories, that wouldn't explain how Luffy knew what he did… Unless…

No. He didn't want to think about the possibility. Luffy did _not_ die too. Marco and the rest of his crew would have made sure of that.

But that wouldn't explain Sabo either. He hadn't really seen any changes in Sabo's behavior and Ace knew he was dead.

_So what exactly was going?!_

A quiet sob broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up and saw Luffy looking at him sadly, crying quietly so as to not disturb Ace's thinking. Ace furrowed his brows, considering something. He didn't like it, didn't want to think about it, but it was the surest way to get confirmation for his question.

Ace spoke, saying only one word.

"Akainu."

Luffy reacted violently, inhaling sharply and his body flinching. Ace knew without a doubt now, that Luffy _knew_. That this Luffy in front of him was _his_ Luffy, the one he'd jump in front of at Marineford, not some fake memory Luffy.

Luffy looked up at him, a new expression on his face. It was still sad, but there was something more there now. "Ace...how do you…? Are you….?" He looked like he didn't know what to ask, mirroring Ace's confused thoughts earlier.

"I don't know what's going on, but…." He looked at his little brother and smiled softly. "It's really me, Lu." 'I'm really alive still.' That did it.

Luffy launched himself at Ace, wailing and shedding more tears than before. Ace just held onto him, content to let him get away with it, just this once. Of course, he was also trying to make sure Luffy didn't see him crying as well.

After Luffy had calmed down enough, and Ace stealthily wiped away his own tears, they just sat there, holding each other. Luffy broke the silence first.

"I'm sorry Ace! It was my fault! I should have been paying attention and because I didn't, you had to…" His voice faltered, the memory clearly still painful for him. "I'm sorry I'm so weak!" He looked like he was about to start crying again.

Ace pulled him closer. "Nah. Don't worry about it. You're my little brother. It's my job to look out for you. Besides, you're not weak Lu. Well…" He looked at him, a smirk on his face. " _Right now_ you are. But you weren't then Lu. I wasn't kidding when I said you'd gotten strong."

Luffy had puffed up at being called weak but he deflated immediately. "Told you I'd get stronger when I get older." He said like a sulking child.

Ace just busted out laughing, rustling Luffy's hair.

"Hey. A quick question." Because he had to be sure.. "You're not...dead..right?" Ace asked him hesitantly.

Luffy blinked at him before he just shook his head. "Nope. As far as I know, I'm not dead. I made it out of the war and was training with Rayleigh. Although...if an animal ate me while I was sleeping, I _might_ be dead, but I don't think Rayleigh would just let me die stupidly like that. But then again, he does walk off a lot while I'm sleeping so it might be possible. But I'm sure I would have noticed if I'd been eaten." Ace just stared as Luffy rambled on.

"So you got out of there...alive?" He asked, ignoring the questions he had about training, and this man named Raleigh and why he just walked off when he little brother was sleeping.

"Yep! I wasn't awake for any of it though. Jinbei told me about it later. He said after….that happened, my mind..collapsed? Or something like that. I don't know. But he said he carried me out of there and that the Whitebeard Pirates helped us escape and that there was this other pirate Trafagy, no, Tralager, no that's not it. Mmm. This pirate, Tra-guy, took us out of there in his ship. Apparently Tra-guy saved me and Jinbei. I'm grateful to him for that. I'm not happy about the scar though...but I don't have it now so it doesn't matter!" He said excitedly.

Ace's emotions kept going back and forth. Relief that his brother had made it out of there safely. Devastated that he'd caused his little brother so much pain that his mind had _collapsed_. Grateful for Jinbei helping Luffy out of there. Thankful that his crew did indeed make sure that Luffy got out of there. Amused at Luffy's struggle with the pirate's name. Distressed that Luffy had gotten a scar.

When he asked him about it, Luffy said he wasn't awake when it happened. He said Jinbei told him that Akainu had been relentless in his pursuit of him and that he'd attacked Jinbei from behind while he was carrying Luffy and that because of his attack, he'd gotten a huge X shaped scar on his chest.

Ace felt rage build in him, but he knew he couldn't do anything about it now, so he let it go.

"Na, Ace?" Luffy asked.

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think we're really back here?" Luffy questioned. Ace looked at him, unsure. He'd only recently started hoping that he might not actually be dead so he wasn't completely sure. He told him as much.

"I'm not 100% sure Lu. That's what I'm wondering. But if I had to guess, I'd say probably...I mean, nothing else makes sense but that."

"I hope so. I mean, I miss my friends, but I can always meet them again." Luffy told him. Ace understood how he felt. He was missing his friends, his crewmates, but Luffy was right. He could always meet them again.

And that includes Thatch! He instantly brightened up some more. Thatch was still alive! And he was going to make sure it stayed that way, when the time came. He wasn't letting Teach win this time.

He was going to make sure things were different this time. He'd protect his family this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this week Finals start for me. I'm going to try not to die within the next 7 days (wish me luck) lol  
> I can't promise there'll be an update before May 12, but there will for sure be one after that!


	9. That's Today Isn't It

Luffy grabbed at his shirt, drawing his attention. "Hey, Ace…"

Ace looked down at him. "Yeah, Lu?"

"Sabo."

Ace swore. "That's today isn't it?!" Luffy nodded numbly. Standing them both up, he grabbed Luffy and made to start running but Luffy making a noise stopped him. He looked back, and realized he'd forgotten all about his brother's injuries in the wake of the revelation.

"Crap...Lu.." He said, concern etched on his face.

"Ace...we gotta get...Sabo. I don't wanna...lose him again." Luffy said but he looked like he was barely able to stand. It seemed to be taking all his remaining energy to do so.

Ace was torn. On the one hand, he agreed with Luffy and didn't want to lose Sabo again, but on the other hand Luffy's injuries were just too severe for him move much.

His own were also pretty bad. And since both of them were used to an adult body and strength, and more importantly, the way their adult bodies recovered from injuries, neither was dealing well with the rebound.

"Carry me. If you have to. Ace. Please.." Luffy pleaded, tears welling up in his eyes again.

Ace struggled with what to do but another glance at Luffy's expression made up his mind.

"Alright then... Let's go, but we've gotta hurry. We don't know when he set out and we still have to skirt the guards combing the Grey Terminal." He knelt down in front of Luffy, beckoning for him to get on.

He did so and once Ace was sure Luffy was secure and wouldn't jostle his injuries too much, he took off. Going through the forest was easy enough, but it was when they neared the Terminal that things got tricky.

They'd had to stop and hide several times when a guard came too near them. Deciding not to risk trying to sneak through the gate, they'd headed off to the side towards where the wall met the sea.

A lower platform met the forest where they were at, and they figured that's where ships disembarked. Stopping a short distance from the edge of the platform, they saw that they were going to have a problem. The place was _crowded_ with people who had showed up for the Celestial Dragon's arrival. The town had been decked out in fancy decorations and if they didn't know better about what kind of vile creature was on its way, the boys would have thought there was some kind of festival happening.

"How on earth are we supposed to find Sabo in all that?" Ace muttered, frustrated. He took note of the countless guards stationed around the crowd, all armed, ready to take care of anyone who so much as dared to interrupt the event.

There was one other problem.

The platform was higher than the ground the two were standing on. Like a good deal higher.

"Shit...if I was two feet taller, this wouldn't be as much of a problem." He said. Actually, if he was two feet taller, he'd just use his fruit powers to rocket up there, but since that wasn't the case currently, they'd have to find some other way up there.

Looking around he spotted various boulders and logs that would work.

He set Luffy down gently, off to the side. "Just wait here a moment Lu. I gotta pile stuff up so we can get up there." Luffy nodded and Ace got to work.

It took him a while because he was still sore from his injuries from the fire and his fight with Bluejam. His muscles were screaming at him, urging him to stop. It got harder and harder to stack things as his muscles kept trying to give out.

He got to where he just couldn't stack anymore and he stared at his makeshift ladder. It only went halfway up, and while that wasn't what he'd have liked, it would still work for him.

He replaced Luffy on his back, and considered the pile for a moment. He walked away from it a ways, to give himself a running start. He faced the pile, and after making sure one last time that Luffy was secure, took off running. He darted up the pile and leaped as high as his smaller, injured body could go.

For a split second he thought he wasn't going to make it, but he was able to get one hand on the edge of the platform. He gritted his teeth, biting back noises of pain. Slowly, and achingly, he lifted the two of them over the edge of the platform.

The crowds were so large, no one noticed the two of them climbing up. He heard Luffy groan in pain behind him. He wanted so badly to stop and give him, and more importantly Luffy, a chance to rest but they just didn't have that kind of time.

"Come on Lu. We're almost there." He looked up, wondering where he should start looking. Since the Celestial Dragon hadn't shown up just yet, that meant that Sabo hadn't left yet. Scanning the horizon over the water, he spotted a speck of black that was growing larger by the second.

They were almost out of time!

Thinking quickly, he decided to check the edge of the platform to see if he could see Sabo's boat at all. Stepping towards the edge, he scanned the water near the platform. Ah, there it was. It was-Crap! It was on the other side!

"Sorry, Lu but I'm going to have to do some running. Bear with it okay?" Ace told him, not happy that he'd have to put Luffy through more discomfort. A small moan was all the answer Ace was given. Swiftly, he joined the crowd, trying to figure out the quickest way to the other side that wouldn't end with the two of them being shot at.

He heard the sound of several bangs go off, announcing the arrival of the Celestial Dragon. The crowd started cheering loudly, and waving their flags that had the symbol of the World Government on it, as well as W GOVT. written on it. Picking up his pace, he darted this way and that, eventually making his way over to the other side of the crowd.

He looked up to check the ocean, and he nearly froze at the sight. A small boat was slowly moving away from the platform. Waving merrily in the wind was a black flag with a very familiar mark on it.

He ran as fast as he could without dropping Luffy trying to get to the edge of the platform or somewhere where Sabo might hear him yelling.

People in the crowd took notice of the ship as well, and some started murmuring about it. A few of the guards noticed and started yelling at it to get back there.

To his right, he saw an outcropping with a lighthouse on it and decided to try his luck there instead of risking the guards catching them at the edge of the platform.

As he reached the beginning of the outcropping, he felt his breathing becoming heavy. He was tiring from running so hard, but he couldn't slow down. Pushing himself even faster, he tried to get to the end of the outcropping as quickly as he could.

From where he was running, he could just barely make out Sabo's blue jacket and his top hat standing at the helm of the ship.

"SABO!" He shouted, continuing to run.

'Please hear me!' He silently pleaded.

"OI! SABO!" He screamed.

" _Sabo_!" Luffy croaked out from behind him.

"Luffy you shouldn't be yelling…" Ace told him quickly.

"I don't care. We can't lose Sabo again. SABO!" Luffy said before shouting.

Ace wanted to argue with him, but he knew they didn't have the time and that Luffy was right. So he joined in with yelling Sabo's name.

"SABO!"  
"SABO!"

"SABOOO PLEASE STOP!"

"SABO COME BACK!"

There were just about at the end of the outcropping, and Sabo's ship still wouldn't turn around. It wasn't sailing that close to the Celestial Dragon's ship, but it wasn't that close to the lighthouse either.

'Can he not hear us at all?!' Ace panicked mentally. 'Please! Come back!'

"SABOOOOOOOO."

Luffy kept yelling but a glint of light caught Ace's eye and he looked up, fear gripping his heart. The Celestial Dragon had noticed Sabo's ship.

"No… OI SABO GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" He yelled desperately.

But it was too late.

They heard the shot ring out, and time seemed to slow down as they watched in horror as Sabo's boat was hit. It rocked to the side, almost capsizing from the impact, fire breaking out on deck.

After a moment, they watched as the Celestial Dragon took aim again, and fired at the boat once more. A larger explosion occurred this time, and the ship was blown apart. Ace caught sight of his tattered top hat flying off into the air.

The Celestial Dragon's ship kept moving forward, leaving the remains of Sabo's ship to burn.

" _SABO_!" Luffy and Ace screamed, terrified.

"I need to go...get him. Luffy you stay-"

"OI. YOU KIDS. WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE?!" The boys whipped around (well, Ace whipped around) to see a guard heading their way, and quickly.

"Shit." Ace threw a glance back at the burning wreckage, heart aching at the sight. "Luffy we have to go...Come on.."

"Okay…" Luffy said quietly, in understanding. Ace turned around and started running back the way they came, his heart getting heavier with each step they took away from the boat. As they neared the guard, he looked at the two and a look of recognition crossed his face.

"YOU TWO BRATS! YOU WERE BANNED FROM THE CITY! GET OVER HERE!" The guard made a grab for them, but Ace jumped up, kicking off from the guards shoulder, knocking the guard off balance while getting a boost of distance from him.

"WHY YOU LITTLE…..WAIT TILL I CATCH YOU TWO!" The guard shouted angrily behind them, before he started after the brothers. Unfortunately for him, the boys were already too far ahead of him for him to have any hope of catching up to them.

Quickly, they reached the crowd and disappeared amongst the throng of people.

"Ace…." Luffy said weakly.

"I know Luffy…we don't have time to worry about anything else right now though. We need to get away from the guards. Neither of us is up for fighting right now." He told him, darting this way and that, trying not to trip over anyone's feet.

"Ace…! Luffy….!"

Ace nearly stopped, looking around for who was calling their names. He continued on though, not wanting them to get caught. They agreed to head into the city, trying to ditch the guard so they could head out again without worrying.

They turned this way and that, hoping to lose their tail. They came across a small alleyway that would obscure them from sight, and swiftly ducked into it, trying to quiet their breathing so they weren't heard.

They listened as the guard ran by muttering curses about the two of them. They waited a while in tense silence, till eventually the sounds of the guard's yelling faded and they breathed out a sigh of relief. With the coast mostly clear, Ace leaned against a wall and slid down it, mindful of Luffy. Once he hit the ground, he pulled Luffy around till he was in his lap, and the two just sat there for a while, clinging to each other. They were exhausted and aching all over, for several reasons.

The main one though, Luffy couldn't keep in about anymore. He started crying, tears cascading down his cheeks. He tried to keep his volume down though, in case there were any guards around. It was weird for Ace seeing a young version of Luffy trying to keep quiet while crying.

Ignoring the thought, he pulled Luffy forward, hugging him tighter than before. He did what he'd gotten onto Luffy about repeatedly, for the second time in the same day. He cried. He leaned his face into Luffy's hair and just cried. He was quieter about it than Luffy was, but he still cried none the less.

He'd broken down and sobbed the first time around, after getting Sabo's letter. He didn't think he'd hurt that bad ever again, but he was just proven wrong. Losing Sabo a _second_ time and being so close and _not_ saving him...it hurt so much worse than the first time.

He should care that he was crying in front of Luffy again, but he didn't care. His grief was too much at the moment.

Eventually guilt and frustration started growing.

"Dammit…" He muttered. "Dammit… We were so _close_."

"Sabo.." Luffy sobbed softly. He clenched his fists, squeezing closer to Ace, even though there was no space left.

"Dammit! We could have saved him this time. We had a second chance and _we could have saved him_. I should have realized when all that shit with Bluejam and Sabo and that noble guy went down. While Dadan was resting, I should have gone to get Sabo." Ace said bitterly.

Some big brother he was… First he left Luffy all alone, and devastated enough that his mind collapsed, and then, when he gets a chance to save Sabo this time _he completely failed._ He squeezed his eyes shut.

"I should have said something...I knew something was weird 'cause I was back here with you two when you're both supposed to be.." Luffy bit his lip, not wanting to say it out loud. "Even if you'd have hit me or called me crazy or both, I should have said something anyway!" He cried into Ace's shirt.

He opened his mouth to deny it being Luffy's fault, but with the way the two were right now, they'd just go back and forth blaming themselves.

Instead he sighed, not lifting his head from atop Luffy's. "We're not doing a very good job of living with no regrets, are we? All the 'we should have' or 'I should have'.."

Luffy just made a noise in response and continued crying into Ace's shirt.

"Let's sit here for a while and rest. You and I, both need it. After everything calms down a bit, we'll go back and see if I can find his...body. We can give him a proper burial this time, unlike before." He choked out. He felt Luffy nod his head and so the two sat there in silence.

The only sounds they made were Luffy's quiet sobs and Ace's occasional sniffle.

Both letting their guilt and grief just run their courses.

* * *

Ace jerked awake but immediately stilled when he felt a weight on his chest and in his lap. Looking down, he saw it was Luffy, who was breathing softly, his eyes closed.

He quickly realized they'd fallen asleep where they'd been sitting. Not much time had passed, judging by the sky when he looked up it.

Groaning slightly in what he guessed was a weird yawn, he looked down at Luffy again. He seemed so peaceful sleeping right then, and he _did_ need the rest. His injuries were really bad.

But they couldn't afford to just sit there for too long, and plus they had to...look for Sabo. He was sure the bandits were having a fit as well, once they'd realized the two brothers were gone.

He was about to wake Luffy up when he heard a noise that made him stiffen. He sat there waiting to see if the noise came any closer.

It did, but it didn't sound too terribly close yet. Listening, he realized it was a someone but, he could neither hear the words nor the person's voice. He tried waking Luffy up gently.

"Are you an idiot...those pies are _terrible_ …" Luffy mumbled. Ace raised his eyebrow but didn't comment as he tried to wake Luffy again.

It sort of worked this time and Luffy turned his head to look up at Ace. He blinked owlishly at him, not completely awake yet.

"Mmm….Ace….?" He murmured.

"Come on Lu. Time to wake up now.." Ace told him softly.

Luffy just groaned and buried his face in Ace's shirt again. Ace sighed.

"Luffy, we can't stay here." Ace reminded him.

"I know…" Luffy muttered dejectedly. "But getting up means going looking for…" Luffy shook his head.

"We can't just...we can't just leave him there.."

Luffy winced and after a moment, slowly lifted his head again. "I know we can't...but..it hurts."

Ace placed a hand on Luffy's head. "I know. I know it hurts. But we really can't stay here. Plus I think someone is-"

He froze and Luffy immediately tensed at Ace's reaction. They sat silently for a moment, listening.

The voice, and person, were much closer this time.

Ace was about to grab Luffy and make a run for it again when Luffy spoke.

"That sounds like…" He tilted his head, straining to hear better. Ace tried listening again.

The person was getting much closer and he was finally able to make out the words.

"...Ace…! ….Luffy….!"

Said boys looked at each other. Luffy spoke again.

"The voice...it sounds like…"

"ACE! LUFFY!" The person yelled, extremely close by. It sounded like they were heading down the street the boys were on and headed right for them.

The person was about to run right past them when the boys yelled his name.

"DOGRA!"

He stopped running and came to a halt right at the entrance to their alleyway. Turning and seeing them, relief immediately washed over him.

"Ace! Luffy!" He exclaimed walking towards them. "What are you two doing here?! I saw you two running in the crowd earlier! I tried calling out to you. But, why are you two here?! With your injuries so bad, especially yours Luffy, the two of you shouldn't be running around!"

Luffy sniffled and Ace tried to hide his pain, but apparently Dogra saw right through him.

"Don't tell me…" He gasped. "You two _saw it_?!"

Luffy let out a sob while Ace turned his head away. "Worse...we tried to stop him. We ran out by the lighthouse, yelling for him to stop, to come back...but..he didn't." Ace swallowed.

Dogra gasped again. "Oh...you boys…" Dogra looked so upset, like he wanted to comfort them but he didn't know how.

And he wouldn't. No one would. They weren't just innocent little boys. They'd lived lives already, experienced and learned a great deal. Experienced great losses.

No one would know how to comfort them, because they wouldn't understand the guilt the boys had.

"We were going to rest a bit then go back and look for...him. We accidentally fell asleep though." Ace explained.

"Are you two crazy?! You can't do that!" Dogra exclaimed.

"Dogra-" Ace started but he was cut off.

" _Even_...if you two didn't have those injuries, you won't be able to get back out there. Because of Sabo leaving on his boat, they've got guards everywhere. I'm surprised you two weren't found yet." He stopped and looked at them a moment. "And besides all that, they've got a crew out there moving the wreckage away from the harbor. If the cleaning crew doesn't get his body, then the sea will."

Both of the boys were silent at that. They felt a new wave of sorrow encroaching.

"I'm sorry boys...but there's nothing you can do now. But at least you two tried, right? That's better than doing nothing at all, isn't it?" Dogra offered, hoping to assuage some of their sadness.

He didn't know how badly his words stung the two of them.

"Anyway, you two are seriously injured. We need to get you back to the house so you can rest somewhere better than a cold, stone alleyway." He told them.

They sat there for a moment, a chill seeping in.

"Boys…" Dogra tried again. Sighing, Ace relented first. Nudging Luffy, they both got to their feet. They both winced at their injuries but also the stiffness from sleeping like they did.

Dogra gave them a weak smile, and he turned, leading them out of there. Except, Luffy's strength gave out again and he fell forward, almost hitting the ground if not for Ace's reflexes.

"Come on. Back up you go." He knelt down again so Luffy could get back on him. After Luffy was secure, Ace motioned for Dogra to lead the way.

The way back was silent. Dogra didn't know what to say to the boys. Ace was berating himself for not being able to help Sabo. His eyes stung, from all the crying he'd done today but he was just tired now. Mentally, he was just exhausted. He was done crying if he could help it.

If he noticed wetness on his shoulder where Luffy's head was, well he didn't mention it.

* * *

The reception when they got back was both warm and angry. Most of the men were just simply happy that the three of them were back and that Ace and Luffy were no _apparent_ worse for wear. Mogra was hovering around Luffy, super worried about his injuries.

Dadan let out a breath of relief and a quiet "Thank goodness…" when she thought no one was paying attention. Both Ace and Luffy heard it, but they pretended to have not heard it.

There was a breath's pause and then "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU TWO BRATS DOING?! WHERE DID YOU GO. YOU BOTH KNOW DAMN WELL LUFFY CAN'T MOVE MUCH RIGHT NOW AND ACE'S INJURIES AREN'T MUCH BETTER.I WANT ANSWERS. NOW." She huffed and glared at them.

Ace sat Luffy down on one of the mats on the floor and he sat down next to him, with Luffy immediately wrapping around him, not wanting to be separated right now. He said nothing about it, feeling similarly; after placing his arm on top of Luffy, he turned to face Dadan.

"We went to get Sabo back." He said flatly. Luffy let out a sob and buried his head once more in Ace's shirt.

"If you went to get him back, then where is he….?" one of the bandits asked.

Ace's face darkened and several of the bandits stepped back in fright. Dogra hid behind Mogra who hid behind Dadan. Luffy just began wailing.

"Ace. Where is Sabo?" Dadan asked directly. She had a guess, but she severely hoped she was wrong. Looking at Luffy's sobbing and Ace's expression, one that he hadn't worn since before Luffy showed up, she was certain she was unfortunately right.

"Sabo was….killed." Ace replied, swallowing before he said the word so he didn't choke on it.

There was a cry of shock from all of the bandits and some started crying themselves. Others just mumbled things like "Poor Sabo." "oh no" "he was actually a good boy. So why..?"

" _ENOUGH!_ " Dadan said, silencing everyone, except for Luffy. Dadan looked back at Ace.

"It was a Celestial Dragon. Those bastards…. think they own this world…" He stated bitterly.

The bandits all exchanged confused looks. Mogra and Dadan shared one as well. Dogra just looked down, having witnessed it for himself.

"A Celestial Dragon?" Dadan asked, her expression taken aback.

"Disgusting trash that think they're better than everyone else, like the Nobles in High Town. Except these are worse, and they're higher up." He stated, with his contempt for them as clear as day.

Luffy was glad that Ace was doing the explaining; all he could do right now was just cry. Cry and keep Ace close to him.

"What..? How do you-"

"Sorry. But I'd rather not discuss this any further. I'm taking Luffy up to our room so we can rest. It's been a long couple of days. If you don't mind leaving us alone for a while, I'd appreciate it."

With that, he turned and picked Luffy up in his arms and headed upstairs, not paying any attention to the bandits who were all startled by Ace's sudden polite statement.

He grabbed their blankets and laid them both down to sleep, him not minding in the slightest when Luffy didn't want to let go of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just can't be very nice with these boys, now can I lol  
>   
> Well...I did say after May 12. I didn't think i'd take this long though. So, my apologies. But! I'm officially on summer break now. (Also, I made all A's and B's this semester so i'm hella proud of that fact. #MadeDean'sList)  
>   
> I definitely would have posted this chapter sooner than this but..my grandma was diagnosed with cancer so that kind of knocked the wind out of me for a few days. Ofc she's acting like nothing's wrong at all. Per typical of her lol


	10. The Letter

Waking up the next morning wasn't easy for the two of them. Their hearts ached an extreme amount, and Luffy's eyes were puffy from crying so much. Ace's were tired from crying as well, but they weren't near as bad as Luffy's. When they opened their eyes, they just lay there, not wanting to move for a while.

Even when Dogra called them for breakfast, they still didn't move. It worried the bandits that neither showed up for food, but they let the two of them be, since they knew how much the two were hurting over Sabo.

Dogra heard a squawk from outside and ran to check on it, while Ace and Luffy exchanged glances upstairs.

"Oi...this is…" Dogra mumbled, receiving the envelope from the News Coo. He turned it over, and when he read the name on the front, he started freaking out, and he ran back inside.

"Boss! Boss! Look at this!" He yelled, waving the envelope in his hands. Dadan looked up at him, from where she sat on the floor, silently wishing he would stop all the screaming.

"What? What is it?" She asked irritably.

"This is-" Dogra started.

"Give it here." Ace, carrying Luffy on his back once more, had walked down the stairs and was currently holding his hand out for the envelope.

"What..? But-"

"It's addressed to us, isn't it." Ace said flatly. He wasn't asking. Dogra looked at the front again, checking.

"Yes but-" was all he could say before Ace snatched it out of his hand and headed out the door, Luffy in tow.

"-but...how did you know that?" Dogra asked, but they were gone.

It took a few minutes longer than normal to reach their cliff; partly because Ace and Luffy were so sore, and partly because their hearts felt too heavy. They both knew what was in the letter, but they still wanted to be alone to read it (again).

Once they reached there, they found a good spot and sat themselves down.

"Ace…" Luffy said softly.

Ace looked over at him. "I know…" He lifted the envelope and opened it, pulling out Sabo's last letter once more. He unfolded it and slowly began reading it out loud for the both of them.

" ** _Ace_** _,_ _ **Luffy**_ _, You two didn't get hurt in the fire, did you? I'm worried, but if it's just something like fire, I know Ace will keep you two safe._

_I'm sorry but by the time you two read this, i'll have already left-_

_This place is no home, it never was. It's always been a cage and I can't stay in it any longer. So, I'm escaping. Where to? To someplace where I can feel at home, where I can be free._

_And then I'm going to grow stronger and stronger. The world out there on the sea is dangerous, more dangerous than Mt. Corvo ever was, and I want to get strong enough so I don't ever have to lose you two again._

_I'm going to be free, and meet up with you two somewhere again. We'll meet up again for sure, out in this wide world and then we'll be freer than any other!_

_\- also, Ace, which one of us do you think is the bigger brother?_

_It's a bit weird to have two older brothers and one younger brother, but...our brotherhood is my precious treasure. Take care of yourselves till I see you two again._ "

By the time Ace reached the bottom, his heart and mind were both racing.

'What in the world?!'

"Ace….that sounded…" Luffy started, surprised.

"..different?" He nodded. "Yeah. This is _definitely_ not like his last letter. He didn't mention anything about being a pirate. He didn't even call you a weak crybaby." Luffy puffed up his cheeks at that.

"I'mnotaweakcrybaby…" he grumbled.

Ace, still staring in shock at Sabo's letter, paid no mind to Luffy's sulking. Seeing that Ace wasn't paying attention, Luffy dropped his pout in favor of considering the letter.

"Ace..that letter sounded weird." Luffy repeated.

"Mhmm. I know things have changed a bit since before...so I guess we shouldn't be surprised his letter is different too." Ace considered, still not quite over the fact that even this is changed.

"But Ace, why would he say something like '.. _if it's just something like fire, I know Ace will keep you two safe'_? That's weird even for the weird changes.." Luffy asked.

Ace blinked. Then his eyes widened, realizing. "It's almost..it sounds almost as if….Sabo knew about my Mera Mera no Mi...which should be…"

"Impossible?" Luffy supplied. Ace mutely nodded.

"Maybe Sabo came back too!" Luffy suggested. Ace turned to stare at him.

"That doesn't explain why he'd know about my fruit. He...died...before I got it, remember?" Ace reminded Luffy, whose mouth made a small 'o' shape.

Although he said that, Ace couldn't help wondering. Besides the part about fire, the letter had several oddities about it.

One being the fact that there wasn't a single mention of Sabo becoming a pirate. Which struck him as odd.

And then there was the wording of the fourth section… ' _The world out there on the sea is dangerous, more dangerous than Mt. Corvo ever was, and I want to get strong enough so I don't ever have to lose you two again.'_ It sounded off to him.

It sounded like Sabo somehow knew exactly how dangerous the sea was (especially compared to Mt. Corvo) when Ace was one hundred percent certain that Sabo had never been out to sea.

Then there was the last line. 'So I don't ever have to lose you two again.' At first Ace had chalked it up to what had happened with Bluejam and that noble.

But, it bothered him. A lot. He couldn't stop thinking it sounded an awful lot like when Luffy said the same thing yesterday. (Was it only yesterday? It felt like a lifetime ago.)

And the more he thought that, the more he wondered if maybe… Luffy was right. Maybe Sabo had come back like they had.

Luffy watched Ace's frown deepen the longer he sat in thought. Luffy left him be since he was just as confused about the letter as Ace apparently was, and he didn't know what to think.

He wanted to think that Sabo had come back like the two of them had but Ace was right that Sabo wouldn't know about Ace's Mera Mera no mi. But then why did Sabo write that? Was it just another thing that changed a little?

If so, then why didn't Sabo come back like the two of them had? Ace had...died, and he was back, so shouldn't Sabo have come back as well?

He heard Ace mumble something and looked up at him.

"Ace…?"

Ace looked at him. "If Sabo had come back like us...then why?"

Luffy wasn't really following what Ace was asking about.

"If he came back, then he should have his memories from before, like us right?" Luffy nodded. "So he would have known that if he left on that boat, what would have happened. So then _why_? Why did he have to go and die?!"

Luffy felt tears welling up again. Ace wasn't sure whether to be more upset or frustrated.

A bush rustled behind them, but the two paid no attention to it. They both sat there, their thoughts racing, and their hearts pounding.

After a long moment someone spoke.

"Except I'm not dead."

Ace and Luffy whipped their heads around to stare at the one who had spoken behind them. They just stared and stared at the sight of the familiar blond-headed boy.

"Ace...we're seeing Sabo again…." Luffy cried.

"I know. I guess we shouldn't be surprised. We imagined him the first time he died, so why wouldn't we do it again." Ace went to turn back around.

"Oi, oi. Seriously? I finally make it back here and this is the welcome I get?" Sabo complained.

"But you're not real.." Luffy said sadly.

"Luffy stop talking to it." Ace chastised softly.

Sabo's eyebrow twitched at being called an 'it'. He also didn't appreciate that they were acting like he wasn't actually there. He calmly walked forward and hit Ace on the head.

"OWW. What the fuck Sabo?!" Ace yelled, reaching a hand up to clutch at his head.

"What's wrong? I'm not real right? So why are you complaining?" Sabo retorted.

"You- that...that hurt?" Ace was getting confused. "That actually...hurt." He snapped his gaze back at Sabo, who just stared at him.

"It hurt you? That means Sabo's real! SABO!" Luffy exclaimed before jumping at Sabo, wrapping him in an embrace, knocking the two of them over.

"Ha ha. Hey, Luffy." Sabo said, smiling, hugging his rubbery little brother back.

"Sabo….!" Luffy cried into Sabo's shirt. Sabo just pat him on top of his head.

"We thought we lost you again.." Sniffled Luffy. Sabo managed to pull the two of them into a sitting position, then he looked at Ace. Who was just sitting there staring, mouth slightly agape.

"But….how? We watched it happened. We were right there. We watched you _die_." Ace stated.

Sabo winced and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry. I had to do it. I'd never have gotten away from my family if I didn't do something like that."

Ace crossed his arms. "Like what..?"

"Like faking my death." Ace's eyes widened before Sabo continued. "I knew Outlook would have kept coming after me and eventually you two. And I didn't want to leave you two again. So I figured this was the best thing to do."

"You...that's…" Ace couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"But Sabo...your letter...it said you were leaving.." Luffy said quietly.

"Yeah. To somewhere I could be free and feel at home. And there's nowhere like that where you two aren't." Sabo told him.

While Luffy smiled and hugged Sabo tighter, Ace frowned.

"Speaking of that letter…" Sabo froze. Luffy looked at him.

"What was up with it? It sounded...weird." Ace stated. He didn't want to include how it was different than before if Sabo didn't actually come back like he and Luffy had.

Sabo sighed, clearly reluctant to answer. "Okay…I know...this is going to sound...weird. But...I think I somehow…"

"Came back? Like in time?" Ace finished for him.

Now it was Sabo's turn to stare with his mouth open in shock.

"How did you-" Sabo began.

"Ace! He came back too! I was right! We all came back!" Luffy exclaimed, still not quite detaching from Sabo.

"You two...came back...as well?" Sabo asked still in shock.

Ace nodded.

"But… What?" Sabo was confused, but he held a hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other. "So I don't lose my mind. Maybe we should start with when was the last thing we all remember before we woke up here."

Ace sighed. He was not looking forward to explaining to Sabo what had happened to him.

"Well…I was 20 years old and well, long story short, I died." He said, not wanting, or ready, to get into all the details quite yet. He waited for Sabo's reaction. For Sabo to yell at him or lecture him

Sabo simply nodded before turning to look at Luffy.

"What about you Lu?" Sabo asked him.

"I was 18! I was training on Ruskaina with Rayleigh." Luffy explained, grinning, excited that Sabo wasn't dead!

"So that's where you were…" Sabo muttered thoughtfully.

"Wait. Hold on." Ace said; Sabo and Luffy both looked up at him.

"I just said I _died_ -" Luffy winced "-and you're not reacting at all? What's the deal Sabo?" Ace exclaimed.

Sabo looked away. "That's because I knew you had." Both Luffy and Ace stared at him in shock.

"How-"

"It's my turn to explain." He interrupted, reminding Ace. "As for me...I was 21. Last I knew, I had to gone to sleep at the base."

It was quiet for a moment before his brothers erupted with questions.

"21?!"

"But how?"

"What base?"

"You were alive?!"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sabo-!"

Sabo held up his hands. "Woah. Woah. I'll explain. Just give me a chance to speak. Please."

"Hmm before that.." Luffy spoke. Sabo and Ace looked at him. He grinned before he reached his arm out to grab Ace and tug him into a group hug with Sabo.

"I'm glad you two are still alive." Luffy said softly. His older brothers both froze at that.

"Luffy…" They both said, feeling horrible.

"I can understand why you feel that way with me...but Sabo. If you were alive, why didn't you find Luffy?" Ace said, nearly growling the words. Sabo tried to lean back out of punching range but Luffy's grip on them was too tight for him to get anywhere.

"I would have.. If I knew where he was! After Marineford and Luffy's stunt there with Jinbei and Rayleigh, he disappeared. No one had any clue where he'd gone, not even us." Sabo defended.

Ace was about to ask what stunt but Luffy spoke first.

"Us..?" Luffy asked.

"Ah. That would be the Revolutionary Army. It's where I've been the past 11 years." Sabo explained.

"Ah. So you were with my dad then." Luffy said, finally relaxing his grip on the two enough that they could get some space, but not quite letting them go either.

"Yeah. Your dad. You can't imagine my shock when I realized that my boss was my little brother's dad." Sabo said with a laugh.

"Yeah.. that's great and all, but that still doesn't explain the fact that you were alive that entire time." Ace retorted, still not happy about the fact that Sabo let Luffy think he was alone all that time.

"Yeah Sabo...why didn't you let us know?" Luffy asked, the hurt apparent in his voice. Sabo looked between them sadly.

"If I'd known...you know nothing would have kept me from trying to find you two, to get to you. When Luffy disappeared, I tried my hardest to find him but it got to a point where Dragon made me stop looking. I was making myself sick trying to find him. My colleagues were at the end of their patience with me. Someone told me that he was either _dead_ or he was okay and he'd return when he was good and ready." Sabo explained, expression growing unhappier as he spoke.

"What do you mean… If you'd known, Sabo?" Ace asked, glad at least that Sabo had tried to not let Luffy think he was alone.

"Up until a year ago...I had amnesia…" Sabo said quietly. Ace inhaled sharply. Luffy looked confused.

"Aneezy? What's that?" Luffy asked, looking between the two, not understanding.

"It's amnesia, Luffy. It's where a person loses their memory." Ace explained. Luffy's eyes went wide in surprise.

"Sabo forgot us?" Luffy asked, saddened. Sabo flinched.

"I didn't want to. Once my memories returned, I hated myself for it. More than anything I hated that I'd let you two think I was dead." Sabo explained, looking away from them again.

"If you got your memory back a year ago, then why didn't you find us?" Luffy asked.

Sabo bit his lip, not looking at them still. Realization was dawning on Ace.

"Sabo...how'd your memory..come back?" He asked slowly.

"You could have come and helped rescue Ace." Luffy said, oblivious to the implications and hurt that Sabo hadn't been there.

"I couldn't have Luffy.." Sabo said, not looking at them. Luffy tilted his head, confused.

"I couldn't have come and helped… By the time my memory returned…" He stifled a sob. "It was..too late." He stated.

He turned and looked at them sadly. "My memory returned because the report from Marineford came out and I saw Ace's picture in the paper.."

Ace closed his eyes while Luffy's widened, tears springing to the corners of them.

"Sabo…" Luffy whimpered. Sabo smiled weakly.

"I'm sorry for all of it. For leaving the first time, for losing my memory and letting you two think I was dead. I'm sorry for not coming to help you Ace. Maybe if I had been there you wouldn't have-"

"Sabo."

Sabo looked at Ace sadly. "You survived and that's what matters. Luffy wasn't alone, even if he didn't know it. I know you would have gotten to him as soon as you could have. I'm not mad."

"I'm not mad either! Sabo's alive! And I'm so happy about that!" Luffy exclaimed, although the amount of tears on his face had Sabo and Ace wondering how true his words were.

Ace let out a breath. "Besides, not like it matters anymore anyway. We're all back here, alive somehow." He stated.

Sabo looked around. "That's true. I wonder how it happened anyway…"

Luffy just shrugged. "Who knows? It's the Grand Line." He said as if that explained everything.

Ace snorted while Sabo laughed.

"That's true. Guess it doesn't really matter." Sabo agreed.

Ace rolled his eyes at the pair, before he looked at Sabo.

"So. Care to explain what exactly happened between when you left with that noble and now? Because Luffy and I were right _there_ when your boat was blown up." Ace said, face completely serious.

"I was wondering why you two seemed so upset. What do you mean you were right there?" Sabo asked.

"We were by the lighthouse, yelling, trying to get you to turn your boat around so you wouldn't be shot at. We saw you in the boat, Sabo. We saw your hat and your jacket. Why do you look perfectly fine, like you weren't even in the explosion?" Ace asked.

Sabo laughed slightly. "Ah. Well that's because I wasn't."

Ace and Luffy both looked at him confused.

He smiled at them. "Let me just start from after I left you two."

* * *

_"I won't say it. This isn't Ace and Luffy's fault." Said Sabo defiantly, ignoring the hard stare the two adults were directing his way._

_"You can't tell us the truth?! What is the meaning of this?! Don't tell me, they've threatened to hurt you if you say anything out of line?" Outlook demanded. Sabo hated his accusations. He hated that all Outlook cared about what the damn family reputation. And more than anything he hated not being with his brothers._

_"They're not like that!" Argued Sabo._

_"If you have a criminal record, it will affect your family's reputation here in High Town. You won't be able to enter High Town yourself either." The officer explained to him. As if Sabo gave a shit. He'd already run away, hadn't he?_

_"The only reason you were involved in those violent incidents was because those two forced you into it! Am I right, Sabo?" When he didn't say anything, a dark expression came across Outlook's face and he grabbed Sabo's shoulder._

_"Sabo. The lives of your two friends in the Grey Terminal are currently in the pirates' hands. One order from me is all it will take. If they really are so important to you, you should think carefully about what you do now. You're a smart child. You should realize the answer quickly." Outlook calmly threatened._

_"Didn't you promise that you wouldn't do anything to them?! That's the only reason I came back here!" He exclaimed._

_Damn this man! Sabo hated him! He was really starting to understand how Ace felt, having the blood of a demon father running in his veins..._

_He turned to the officer. No matter how much Outlook wanted him to, he would not lie about his brothers like that. "A sin is a sin. All three of us acted of our own free will!" He told the man._

_Outlook kicked the chair out from under him and Sabo fell to the floor._

_"Oh, dear….It is such an inconvenience, having such a stupid son." Outlook reached into his pocket and withdrew a wad of money. He placed it on the table in front of the officer. "You understand, do you not?"_

_The officer picked up the money and quietly slipped it into hiding. "It must be very hard for you. I'll do what I can about the documents." He told them and Sabo just wanted to scream._

_Later that night, Sabo was standing in his room staring out his window, the darkness outside reflecting his foul mood currently. He tried not to think about the fact that tomorrow the night sky would be alight with that damned fire…_

_He thought back to Ace earlier._

"Are you gonna let it end like this?!" Ace shouted. "We're your irreplaceable brothers?! Well so are you! SABO! You're our irreplaceable brother as well! PLEASE. THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!"

_Another way...he definitely couldn't stay in this place. But his plan last time obviously hadn't been the best… But how could he escape while simultaneously insuring that Outlook wouldn't come after him and his brothers…?_

_Suddenly he came up with an idea. If he could pull it off right, he'd be home free!_ _But to be able to do this...he'd have to put up with_ this _place longer than he'd like to...It was an unpleasant idea, and he hated that he wouldn't be trying to go out and warn Luffy and Ace of the fire. But for this plan to work, he'd have to do it._

_A repugnant voice drew him out of his thinking. He softly sighed. 'Here we go', he thought._

_"Hey, big brother." Stelly said. Sabo clench his fist. He was_ not _this brat's big brother. His only brothers were out there while he's stuck in here with the likes of him...he was not happy with the situation._

_"I heard you're an idiot? Mother and Father kept saying that in secret. Still, you've got the devil's luck. They'll be 'disposing of the trash' tomorrow night. If you'd stayed in the Grey Terminal...you'd have probably died. But, for my part, it would have been better if the real heir of this family had never come home." Stelly arrogantly gloated._

_Sabo knew he was doing it to get a rise of him and he needed to at least react to what he was saying. If he didn't, Stelly might report his odd behavior to Outlook. He really didn't need that so he decided to play along. He stalked over and grabbed Stelly by the front of his shirt, doing his best to intimate the younger boy._

_It worked splendidly and Stelly started freaking out. "W-What are you doing?! I'll tell Father about this!"_

_"What did you mean by that?!" He demanded of him. Even though he already knew… "What's going on?! Tell me everything!"_

_"There's gonna be a fire tomorrow! In the Grey Terminal!" Stelly told him._

_"Fire?!" Sabo tried to feign shock. He found it wasn't that hard. It was still shocking to him that these people were all perfectly okay with it._

_"That's right. I suppose there's no way you could know since you ran away from home. It was decided several months ago. Did you know that inspectors from the World Government are touring East Blue? They're coming to Goa Kingdom in a few days. One of the World Nobles, a Celestial Dragon, will be on that ship." Sabo shivered slightly at the mention of the Celestial Dragon._

_"People are really worked up about it! The royal family is determined that the Celestial Dragons won't see the filth in this country...so they decided to burn all of the Grey Terminal to the ground! If they do that, this country will be spotless!" Stelly continued on, happily._

_"What are you talking about?! There's no way they can do that! Lots of people live there! You mean they're gonna destroy everyone's home?!" Sabo cried out, almost not needing to act._

_"Let go of me!" Stelly pushed him away._

_"Didn't you hear what I said? They're gonna burn all the filth in this country." He turned and gave Sabo a face that made Sabo almost glad for his memory loss of ten years. He'd probably have nightmares about that face, how smug and disgusting that expression was._

_"Even the people?" Sabo shivered, praying that memory didn't choose to deviate during this whole incident and everyone made it out alive._

* * *

"Sabo has another brother?!" Luffy exclaimed, shocked and a little upset. He didn't want another brother if he was as terrible sounding as this Stelly kid did.

Sabo quickly shook his head. "Hell no. Stelly is not, never was and never will be my brother. My parents just adopted him in case things with me 'didn't work out'.

"If they had another brat that they liked better, then why the hell did that man go through all that to get you back?!" Ace demanded, confused.

Sabo sighed. "A blood heir is always better."

Ace growled. "Again with blood…"

Sabo gave him a knowing look. "Yeah. It sucks and you're right that since they had someone to take over as heir, he really shouldn't have did what he did. But he's twisted in the head, so I don't really expect any better from him."

His expression became serious. "I was so angry. I really couldn't believe that they could take people's lives so lightly. The first time, when I found out, I tried to see if it was actually true and when I did, I tried to warn you two. My father caught me but I escaped again and tried to get to you two as the fire was happening but the gate guards beat me up."

"The warning wouldn't have done us any good." Ace said grimly. Luffy whimpered.

"Why's that?" Sabo asked, curious.

"Because we accidentally helped start the fire." At Sabo's horrified expression, Ace quickly explained. "We didn't know. Bluejam had offered to pay us for a job which was setting crates around the Grey Terminal. We didn't bother to ask what was in the crates or why we were setting them out. But we should have, because they were filled with oil and explosives. Before the fire started, Bluejam explained to us the plot, and when we threw a fit, he tied us up so we ended up caught in it."

That information only deepened Sabo's horror. "You two...were caught in… What happened? How did you two get away?" From what he remembered, the fire was supposed to be inescapable except for the path that Dragon had made, and he didn't recall there being any sightings of two little boys. When he'd heard that, he assumed that the two had managed to avoid the fire.

Ace explained about them escaping the ropes and running around trying to escape, and Bluejam and his men having snapped, then Dadan's intervention.

"We split up. The bandits took Lu while Dadan stayed with me to take on Bluejam. We managed to defeat him but Dadan got burned badly while we were escaping, so it took us a few days to get back." Ace finished, explaining his end.

"We went back to the house and the first time, I tried to go back to get Ace, but I couldn't walk so I couldn't. Well I tried that this time too. But this time, instead of waiting around the entire time I went and moved the Pirate Fund!" Luffy stated, proud of himself.

"You did what?!" Ace and Sabo shouted at him.

"I moved the Pirate Fund. I didn't want Bluejam getting it this time." He said, pouting while drawing circles on the ground with his finger.

"Luffy! You are far too injured to be worrying about some stupid treasure!" Ace scolded.

"What if Bluejam had been there?! You could have gotten into serious trouble." Sabo told him.*

"I didn't go alone! I couldn't actually walk, so I got Mogra to help me. He carried me and when we got to the treasure, he carried it too." Luffy defended.

Sabo sighed in exasperated relief, but also glad that Luffy wasn't _entirely_ reckless. Ace just shook his head.

"Where did you end up moving it to?" He asked.

"The treehouse. Figured we could hide it again later." Luffy told him.

Sabo nodded. That was actually a sound plan. "Good thinking." he said.

"That...actually was. Huh. Would you look at that. A rare occurrence." Ace joked. Luffy stood up, puffing up his cheeks and getting ready to argue when Sabo stopped him in his tracks.

"Okay, you two... Did you always fight like this for the last eleven years?" Sabo asked, slightly irritated but also slightly curious.

Ace shrugged, looking a little disinterested. "Not really. We got better when we were older, but being back in our kid bodies… it's kind of hard to resist. Old habits die hard, you know?"

Luffy, cheeks still puffed up, hmphed and turned away. "Ace was still a meanie even when we were older…"

"I...what?! Luffy what are you talking about?" Ace asked, incredulously. He was certain he'd actually been nicer to Luffy when they were older.

"At Marineford you called me a weakling! In front of everyone… even though I was there to save you and everything…" Luffy pouted. He sat down, facing away from his brothers, and started drawing circles on the ground with his finger again.

Ace slapped his forehead. "Really…? You're upset about _that_?" He almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. Out of everything that had happened that day, and Luffy decides to take that one comment to heart. Ace was tempted to get up and bang his head against a tree.

Sabo was caught between wanting to laugh at the way Luffy was pouting and grimacing at the mention of Marineford. The result being a very interesting look on his face. Deciding, for the betterment of his health, not to comment any further on the topic of Marineford, he reminded them that he still had a story to tell.

"If you two would please...or do you not actually want to hear what happened?" Sabo told them. Ace stopped rolling his eyes, and Luffy looked up from his pouting. They both shared a glance, before they repositioned themselves closer to their brother, showing that they were attentive and waiting.

Sabo chuckled at the sight. 'If only it had been this easy to reign them in the first time…' He took a breath and continued with his story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *If anyone would love to read another wonderful AU that actually explores if Bluejam had been there, I recommend [Bonds of Sea and Fire](https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11355515/1/Bonds-of-Sea-and-Fire) by Mithril Lace.  
> It is a wonderful story and is very will written. #GoalsAF


	11. His Story: cont.

_Since Sabo hadn't run off again this time, Outlook didn't put bars over his window and Sabo was more than grateful for it. It'd make things easier when he did actually escape again._

_After breakfast, he was standing by the window staring outside while finalizing his plans of escape. He'd spent most of the night and morning working on them. It was all mental work, as he didn't want to write anything down and risk someone coming across it._

_While he was thinking about what to do and where to hide after he set his plan into motion, he heard his door swing open. He turned around, and found Outlook standing there and doing a very poor job of attempting to hide his sneer._

_Seeing Sabo standing by the window and obvious that he had been staring out it, Outlook's eyes narrowed in suspicion._

_"You'd better not be thinking of running away again Sabo. I already told you enough with these dumb games." Outlook told him._

_Sabo had to work to not roll his eyes in contempt. He needed to watch it if Outlook was already suspicious of him just from standing by the window._

_"Of course not...Father." Sabo responded, fighting back the urge to gag. Outlook looked as if he didn't believe him for a second. Sabo almost couldn't blame him, since that was what he actually had been doing._

_But this whole mess was Outlook's fault, so he did blame him._

_"Now, you are to resume your lessons immediately and there will be no arguments about it. You wasted so much time running around playing, that you are severely behind in your studies." Outlook told him. Sabo grimaced. This wasn't going to be fun._

_"You will spend the mornings doing your lessons, and in the afternoon, you will join Stelly in accompanying me to work. Is that clear?" He asked. Sabo clenched his fists and looked at the ground._

_"Yes...Father." He choked out, disgusted at the word. He didn't look up but he heard Outlook 'humph'._

_"Very good. You will start immediately. Go clear your desk and get ready for your tutor." Outlook ordered him, before promptly turning around leaving, closing the door behind him._

_The clock sounded deafening in the silence that followed his departure. Despite the fact that it would be worth it in the end, right now, Sabo couldn't help but feel the weight of loneliness start to close in on him._

* * *

_The first few days had been nothing short of difficult. The only time Sabo was left alone was in the bathroom or at night when he was supposed to be asleep. Outlook was determined that Sabo wouldn't run off again._

_The lessons weren't so bad. He had eleven years of knowledge in him, so homework was a breeze. Since he was getting caught up relatively quickly, Outlook didn't throw a fuss when he finished his lessons early each day. He still wasn't left alone of course, but it did give him some time before he had to go to work with Stelly and Outlook._

_He'd outgrown the clothes in his closet, so his mother had taken him shopping for more. That was probably more unpleasant than having to go to Outlook's office._

_His mother poked and prodded him as he was trying new clothes on. She chose most of his outfits for him, and they were all gaudy as hell. He did manage to convince her to buy him a set of clothes similar to what he'd worn when he was with Luffy and Ace._

_She only agreed because she did like the outfit (which made Sabo not as thrilled to be wearing it). She bought him a new hat too because it was fraying at the edges a bit. That surprised Sabo. He thought he was going to have to beg her to buy him another one._

_When he asked her about it, she said that even though Outlook didn't like him wearing the hat, she did. It made her proud cause it made him look like his father. The only way he didn't gag at the thought was because he didn't see what she meant, and he needed the hat._

_When they returned to the house, she made him put on the_ gaudiest _one they bought, and she paraded him around in it. Stelly could see how uncomfortable the clothes made him, so he was giggling up a storm. Sabo had to resist the urge to punch him._

_The only reason he put up with it was because she had bought him the parts he needed to help him escape. She didn't realize it of course. When she asked about the parts, he explained that he saw some other noble of higher status tinkering with something similar and he wanted to try his hands at it._

_He hadn't actually seen anyone tinkering with anything, but she didn't need to know that. Hearing the other noble's name she immediately agreed to it and bought him all that he needed. She was clearly delighted by the idea of him engaging in activities that might help boost their status. It made him sick._

_Luck seemed to be on his side though. The entire day before and of the Celestial Dragon's arrival, Outlook had been running around doing things so he wasn't forced into his lessons nor did he have to join him and Stelly at his work place._

_He was left to wander (with a guard accompanying him of course) so he headed to the docks to check out the boat he planned on stealing. Even though he was rebellious, he was still a noble so the guard didn't question him as he hopped on the boat to take a look around. He did grab the rope mooring the boat just in case Sabo tried to run off though._

_Sabo didn't care. He wasn't leaving today anyway. He examined the wheel trying to calculate the size and everything of it. When he finished with that, he took note of front area of the ship. Once he was satisfied with his look around, he hopped off the boat and they left._

_As they were walking back, his stomach growled. He almost forgot where he was and was about to call for his brothers so they could go hunt. Instead, he just stood there with his mouth wide open. His guard stared at him and after he showed no signs of moving, his guard asked, "Is everything alright Young Master?"_

_Sabo blinked and he snapped out of it. He turned to his guard and said, "Ah, I'm fine. Just...readjusting to being here again.."_

_The guard nodded in understanding. "Your father left some money with me in case you were to become hungry. Shall we go and find you something Young Sir?" He suggested._

_Sabo fought back a scowl; he wanted to say no, because he didn't want to rely on that man's money if he could help it but his stomach growled again and left him with no choice in the matter. Sighing, he started towards where some food places were. He almost stopped in at the ramen shop but changed his mind._

_He wouldn't eat there. Not without his brothers._

_He stopped in at some buffet he couldn't be bothered to remember the name of. After startling the staff and his guard with the size of his appetite, he decided to head "home" to begin working on his plan._

_He had already started work on the motor that he was going to need the same day that his mother bought the parts for it. His parents simply took him throwing his all into his work as proof that he had finally given up on those "silly pirate games"._

_He finished work on the motor halfway through the day before the Celestial Dragon's arrival so he turned his attention to getting everything else ready for him to leave. This mainly involved him stapling his outfit together that he was going to be using as his decoy. He would have sewn it but he didn't have the materials to do so. (Nor did he have the patience for it, but that was beside the point.)_

_Once his clothes were all attached together, he scrounged around his room for anything he could use to stuff his "dummy". He used the paper for his homework, he tore out pages from the books around his room, anything he could find. Once his clothes were full he stapled his hat to the top. The size wasn't exactly right but from a distance it should be good enough to look like it's him on the boat. He made sure there were no holes and once he was satisfied he hid his dummy under his bed. He left the motor where it lay on his desk; there was no need to hide it since his parents knew he was working on it._

_Hiding it would probably just make them more suspicious._

_That night was an annoyance in more ways than one. It just seemed to drag on slower the more he wanted it to be finished with._

_Dinner was a noisy affair as Outlook had thrown a small party and was bragging about something or other to the other nobles that attended. His mother stuck him back in the itchy, ugly outfit from before for the party._

_He had to grin and bear it. It would all be worth it in the end after all. Only a few more days and he'd be back with his_ real _family. Once the party finished without a hitch, Outlook was too drunk to fuss at him as much as he normally did._

_After a few hours of pretending to be asleep, he sat up and grabbed the machine and the dummy. He packed all the other stuff in a sack and jumped out the window. He headed straight to the dock to set up for tomorrow. Before reaching the docks, he stops by the entrance the harbor area and where he thinks the crowd will generally end. He pulls a few barrels together off to the set and sets his bag with his hat, clothes and shoes in it, behind them. He moves them around and doubles checks that it doesn't look suspicious. Once satisfied he heads toward the dock and climbs into what was now his boat. He mumbled a quick apology to whoever he was robbing._

_"It's for the greater good. Well, it's for my good anyway."_

_He sets his stuff down and gets to work setting his machine up. He had programmed a set direction and once one, it should take the boat on the same path he took last time. He attached the motor to the very bottom of the rear end of the boat. There were two lines connected to it. One led to the button to start the motor and the other that he attached to the wheel. It had a small propeller to help push the boat. He was still going to have the sail unfurled and was going to use the wind to help move the boat._

_The motor was small and could push the boat on its own if need be. He just didn't want to rely on it so he hoped there would be some wind. He couldn't have it too big or risk someone hearing it. Once that was finished he grabbed a rope that was the on the boat and tied the boat to one of the pillars of dock under the water. He then undid the rope holding the boat above the water. Less work for him the next day._

_He dug out a knife and some binoculars, and laid those on the table next to button for the machine._

_Next, he got to work setting up and attaching his dummy-self to the wheel of the ship. That didn't take long and soon he was getting off the boat to head back._

_"Oh! One last thing." He remembered. He hid a cloak he'd grabbed under one of the barrels on the dock._

_Now that he was finished with his preparations, he headed back to the house and hopped back into bed. He needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was a big day after all._

_The next day arrived all too slowly and way too quickly. Sabo didn't need to be woken by one of the staff for all the noise in the house. His mother was fussing, loudly, about what she should wear. Outlook was answering lots of calls that kept arriving, even though he was nursing a hangover, he also was being quite loud. Sabo didn't care what Stelly was up to._

_Over breakfast, Outlook announced that while Sabo's behavior had improved, Outlook still didn't trust him not to run off. Sabo fought off shrugging. He couldn't exactly blame him since that's exactly what he would be doing today._

_Once the guard had been set up in his room, Outlook brought him into his room and not so gently ordered him not to try any funny business. Sabo just grit his teeth and nodded. While Outlook was double checking with the guard one last time to "not take his eyes off of Sabo for even one second", Sabo just walked over to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen._

_Outlook was pleased to see that Sabo was finally resigned to his fate and taking his studying seriously. Satisfied he took everybody and Sabo was finally alone._

_Well, almost._

_But it was a matter of time before his guard fell asleep again._

_In the meantime, he sat down and began writing his letter to his brothers. Several drafts (and crumpled pieces of paper) later, he sat back, satisfied. A snore interrupted him admiring his work. Chuckling, he looked over and, sure enough, the guard was fast asleep. This job was no less boring than it was the first time._

_He folder his letter and put it in an envelope and left. He didn't even bother to give one last look to the room or the house he grew up in. He didn't care. It wasn't his home. He hated the place. He walked right out the front door and straight to the post office. Since today was a "holiday" it was closed but tomorrow the letter would be sent and that's what mattered._

_Now that he was finished attending to his last matters here, he turned, facing towards the harbor. HIs gut twisted in stomach, for multiple reasons._

_Nervous: hoping he would be able to pull this off without a hitch. Things had changed a considerable amount; maybe the Celestial Dragon wouldn't shoot at him this time? He scoffed. No. The idiot would still take a shot._

_Excited: he almost felt like his older self again, taking on another mission. Reckless endeavors such as this were what he was used to, albeit not with him so tiny and powerless, but oh well. Slightly scared: what if..what if this whole plan fails? What if he has to go back to...there. He was getting nauseous at the idea of it. He didn't know if he could actually live with himself if he had to go back._

_Lonely: he missed his brothers. A lot. He couldn't wait to see them again. He just hoped that this plan of his worked and that nothing else changed so he could safely return to them._

_Shaking his head, he was done thinking on the matter. He didn't want to be late and, more importantly, he didn't want to psych himself out. So, he set off. His path took him wide of the harbor; it wouldn't do for anyone to see him and stop him before he could even reach the water. Since he had swung by the area overnight and set everything in place, he had nothing on his person that he needed to set aside as he reached the land's edge. He didn't even have his hat. In fact, he was wearing just shorts and a simple tank top. The less amount of clothing he on him, the swifter he could move through the water._

_He checked his position; he was to the side of the harbor's edge, as close as he dared to go. He entered a bush right on the water's edge and pulled some of the branches aside, enough that he could see, but not enough that any of the busybodies with binoculars could easily spot him as they wait for the Celestial Dragon to arrive._

_Figuring it was about time for him to be heading off, he quickly slipped into the water. He took a massive breath and then dove under water. He began swimming in the water along the path that he had mentally drawn for himself. He would swim as quickly to the closest edge of the harbor wall as he could, and he would use that as cover if he needed to take a breath anytime. He was certain no one would be looking at the walls or even the water right at the wall's edge so he knew he'd be safe from sight._

_As he swam, he let his mind wander for a moment. He was always fascinated with how different things were under the water's surface. Everything seemed to be in motion yet so still at the same time. The quietness was almost soothing. He appreciated the way his body was easily able to navigate through the sea._

_He really did feel for Devil Fruit users. This was an experience he'd be sore to have to lose out on. If he had been able to find Ace's fruit before he'd come back, he knew he'd miss this._

_But as things were, that didn't really matter so much anymore so he brought his attention back to what he was doing. His breath was running out so he popped up and took a very fast breath before diving back under the waves. He swam towards where the boats had been docked. He counted the shadows on the water's surface till he arrived at the one he'd be stealing. He swam to the side out of view of the audience and hauls himself onto the boat as quietly as he could._

_He did a quick sweep of the place, making sure everything was in place. Once he was done with that, he grabbed a pair of binoculars that was on the boat and faced the horizon. He was able to make out the approaching figure of the Celestial Dragon's ship. He smirked, placed the binoculars back down while picking up the pocket knife that he had left lying there the last night. He walked to the back of the ship and pressed the start button on the motor. After he unfurled the sail, he left the ship the same way he'd entered it._

_Back in the water, he swam towards the pillars of the dock. Already he could see the rope losing slack as the boat started to pull away from shore. He quickly pulled out the knife and cut the rope before it started pulling on the dock. The last thing he needed was for the dock to be destroyed and have attention drawn to the boat before it was well on its way._

_He kept hidden under the dock until he heard the commotion of the crowd having finally noticed his ship. He peeked his head above the water and once he was certain that everyone was sufficiently distracted he pulled himself up onto the dock. He grabbed the hood he placed under the barrel and put it on and slipped into the crowd._

_He began weaving his way through the crowd, making sure to keep his head down but also trying to keep away from anyone who might recognize him. Halfway through the crowd he heard the Celestial Dragon's shot ring out followed by the sound of his ship exploding. He didn't turn to look and instead kept moving._

_Reaching the back of the crowd, he headed where a cluster of barrels sat. Once hidden from view by the barrels, he turned and looked towards the ocean one last time. He paid no attention to the mumbles and cries of distress, nor the flurry of movement amongst the gathered audience._

_The boat went right where he had wanted it to go and right on schedule, the Celestial Dragon did indeed shoot at his ship. Pleased that his plan worked, he smirked. Deciding not to linger any longer, he turned and continued onwards towards the forest, as the flames from the boat explosion lit up the harbor and the smoke filled the sky._

_He had originally planned to just lay low in the forest that night, but it wasn't as simple as he had intended. (Of course, it wasn't. He shouldn't have been surprised.) There were still a few lingering guards checking the forest to make certain that absolutely no one had survived the fire._

_So instead of calmly resting and waiting the night out, he had to play hide and seek with the guards. Not that they knew he was there, of course, but it was still a pain making absolutely certain to stay out of their sight._

_Finally having enough of it, he waited for his chance and made a break for further into the forest. He found the tallest tree he could as quick as possible and scampered up it. Exhausted from being on edge and all the running around he fell asleep._

_That night he dreamt._

_Children ran through a forest laughing and smiling._

_A youth stood on a ship laughing with his friends._

_The same thing but a different youth._

_And then another one._

_There were explosions. Gunfire. Just fire._

_A youth engaged in a difficult one on one fight._

_And another._

_Another fight with another youth._

_And another with another._

_All the fights started blurring together._

_More explosions._

_More gunfire._

_More fire._

_Blood. Lots of blood._

_And then…_

_He woke up._

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a hell of a time deciding whether or not to split this into 2 chapters or leave it as one long(er) chapter and I ultimately decided to do two chapters. Because you guys have been so awesome and I didn't want to just end it like that with no warning.  
> So next chapter is the last chapter! It will be posted tomorrow. Probably. If my dumbass self don't forget to.


	12. The End, but also a new beginning

_He sat up slowly, blinking as the sunlight filtered through the leaves. He groaned, feeling groggy._

_"What a strange dream." He mumbled out loud. He tried recalling the dream, but the more he tried to remember the dream, the harder time he had recalling it. It felt like it was fading away. He shrugged not too concerned about it. A dream is a dream._

_He stood up and looked around. From his vantage point he could see the sea. He grinned, missing the feeling of sailing across the waves. One day, he promised himself. One day he'd be back there again. But for now…he had more important things to attend to._

_He slowly made his way down from the tree, double checking that there weren't any guards around before hopping to the ground. He stood for only a moment as he decided where to go. Destination set, he headed off._

_He spent the whole way there thinking about what he would say to everyone._

_"'Surprise! I'm back! Hope no one missed me too much.'" He chuckled then shook his head. No that wasn't any good._

_"How about… 'Dry your tears for I have returned!' No that's really no good.. Hmm…" He grabbed his chin. This was harder than he thought. He knew he was going to have to explain that letter to his brothers. He'd made up his mind that he was going to tell them the truth about him, about him coming back in time._

_He knew he didn't really need to send that letter this time around, but it felt kind of wrong for him to not send one. If he was being honest, he was also just being a bit dramatic. He was like that from time to time._

_A thought occurred to him and he thumped his fist against his other hand. "Oh, I know." He smiled._

_'I'm home.'_

_He liked the sound of that._

_He looked up when he reached his destination. Dadan's hut. He was about to knock when he heard talking from inside. He leaned in to listen._

_"….that letter?" A bandits voice asked._

_So, they_ did _get the letter then. He was glad; the voices continued so he continued listening._

_"Who knows? They're hurting really bad right now, so probably someplace where they can be alone." Dadan answered. Sabo tried not to panic too badly. Ace and Luffy were hurt? And badly?_

_"So, the treehouse then!" Another bandit suggested._

_Dadan answered, "Probably not."_

_The bandit who'd suggested the treehouse asked, "Why not there?"_

_Dogra answered, "Like the Boss said. They're hurting really badly right now. I doubt they'd go to a place like that right now. It'd remind them too much of him."_

_Sabo was confused by the direction the conversation was going. If his brothers were hurt badly, then why are they out and about. They should be resting. He wondered why the bandits were being so nonchalant and just discussing where they_ might _have gone._

_"Ah... I see." The bandit accepted._

_"This still doesn't explain how they knew that letter was for them..." Dogra muttered. Even though he muttered it, everyone heard him. Including Sabo. who became confused._

_"Hmm. That's definitely strange. Based on what Mogra just told us, it's obvious they didn't have a chance to communicate about the letter. Well, maybe they had a previous agreement where if Sabo was taken back that he would write to them?" Dadan said._

_Sabo stepped away from the door, not wanting to listen any longer. His thoughts swirling._

_His brothers were hurting badly. Why were they hurting? Had they actually been caught up in the fire?! He hoped not!_

_They were somewhere they wanted to be alone. Why did they need to be alone? If it was somewhere to be alone then he knew where they were then. He began walking towards the cliff where'd they'd made their dreams._

_They knew the letter was for them. But…how? Well, given that the bandits_ never _got mail, it was most likely for them. He was entirely convinced that that's all there was to it though. He let his thoughts wander like this for most of the way to the cliff._

_When he was almost there, realization hit him like a brick. 'That's right! They probably think I'm dead.' He'd been so caught up in his plans for faking his death that he forgot about the possibility that his brothers would think he was also dead._

_He felt so stupid for not thinking about that possibility. He also felt awful for it. Once he'd realized they thought he was dead, he made the connection that they weren't hurting because of some physical wound, it was because they thought he was dead._

_He needed to let them know he wasn't dead!_

_Once he could see the end of the treeline, he began hearing their voices. He was happy to see that he was right that they'd be here. Not that he doubted it but it's still nice to know that you know your brothers._

_He caught the tail end of what they had been discussing. "…..if he left on that boat, what would have happened. So then why? Why did he have to go and die?!"_

_Sabo watched as Luffy started tearing up and Ace withdraw into himself. He stopped for a moment. He'd done this to them. Sure it was all to work out in the end, but that won't ever change the fact that he caused the expressions currently on his brothers' faces. He didn't spare a thought for the fact that last time they'd actually grown up without knowing he was actually alive._

_He pushed through the bushes and walked towards them, almost desperate to be with them again._

_"Except I'm not dead." He told them. He watched as they both whipped their heads around to face him._

* * *

"And that's what happened." Sabo finished, shrugging his shoulders as he did so. He looked at his brothers who were both just staring at him. Whether in awe or shock, he wasn't entirely sure.

Luffy broke his stare first by laughing. "Sabo's so cool!" He exclaimed. "I mean I'm not happy that we got tricked too. But I'm happy because Sabo's here now!" And he proceeded to wrap his arms around Sabo once more.

Sabo smiled gently at him and returned his brother's hug.

Ace chuckled and smirked at them. "I gotta hand it to you Bo. That was pretty clever. I'm glad you're back."

Sabo grinned. "I'm glad to be back!" He responded.

A thought struck Ace. "So…what now?"

Sabo and Luffy looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?" Sabo questioned.

"Well, you're back with us now, right?" Sabo nodded. "What are you going to do now? You faked your death which means you can't go back in town now."

Sabo shrugged. It was a minor detail he hadn't considered. "It's not that big a deal. It'll be a bit of a pain but it's not like I'm exactly heartbroken over never being able to go back there."

Ace didn't seem satisfied; he looked like there was something he wanted to say.

"What is it?" Sabo asked him.

"You said you're back with us, and don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are. But are you going to be okay with that?" Ace asked him, clearly conflicted.

"I don't get what you mean." Sabo told him honestly.

"The Revolutionary Army. That's where you were up until now, right?"

Oh.

Now he saw what Ace was getting at.

He took a moment considering things before he answered. "I mean, yeah, I'm probably going to end up with them again. Because I just can't stand knowing what the World Government puts people through and just not _do_ anything about it. But…I'm sure they'll be fine without me for a few years."

Ace seemed to relax a little bit at his answer.

"Besides, we agreed to set out when we turned seventeen, didn't we?" Sabo reminded him.

Ace laughed. "Yeah, you're right." Luffy's giggling interrupted them both; they turned and looked at him.

"This means Sabo can join my crew now!" Luffy said and the three of them immediately dissolved into their old argument of who was joining whose crew and who wasn't joining whose crew. None of them took it seriously since they had made their oath to become brothers specifically because no one could agree on this issue.

(Well. Maybe Luffy took it seriously.)

"Oh, Luffy! By the way," he started, as he dug around in his pocket, "I never got this to you the first time." He held out his hand to his little brother whose eyes lit up with excitement, while their other brother laughed.

In his hand was the telescope that he'd found.

* * *

x x x 

* * *

 

**Bonus:**

"Oi...this is…" Dogra mumbled, receiving the envelope from the News Coo. He turned it over, and when he read the name on the front, he started freaking out, and he ran back inside.

"Boss! Boss! Look at this!" He yelled, waving the envelope in his hands. Dadan looked up at him, from where she sat on the floor, silently wishing he would stop all the screaming.

"What? What is it?" She asked irritably.

"This is-" Dogra started.

"Give it here." Ace, carrying Luffy on his back once more, had walked down the stairs and was currently holding his hand out for the envelope.

"What..? But-"

"It's addressed to us, isn't it." Ace said flatly. He wasn't asking. Dogra looked at the front again, checking.

"Yes but-" was all he could say before Ace snatched it out of his hand and headed out the door, Luffy in tow.

"-but...how did you know that?" Dogra asked, but they were gone.

Dogra and Dadan stared at the doorway, wondering what had just happened. Mogra came in from another room after hearing the commotion.

"Hmm, what's going on?" He asked.

No one answered him immediately and a few more bandits had gathered, also curious about what was going on.

Finally, Dadan spoke first. "Dogra! What was all that about?!" She demanded.

"I don't really know..." He answered, unsure about what just transpired.

"Dogra..." Dadan said.

"I really don't! I heard the News Coo and went to get the mail from it and it was a letter." He explained.

"Well, what's the big deal about that?" Dadan asked.

"Well, the thing is... that letter... was from Sabo." He answered.

Everyone yelled in surprise at his answer. Everyone started asking questions at the same time. No one could understand what anyone else was saying. Dadan sat there for a moment as the noise grew louder and louder. With each new question, her eye twitched in irritation more and more.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore and snapped. "THAT'S ENOUGH YOU LOT. SHUT UP ALREADY WILL YA!?"

Everyone immediately quieted.

"Boss... I'm confused." Dogra mustered up the courage to squeak out.

"...And why is that?" Dadan asked him, still irritated.

"How did they know it was for them? I didn't have a chance to say that it was from Sabo and for them before Ace demanded it from me." He explained, meekly.

Dadan took a moment considering this, not really sure how to answer him. Truth be told, it confused her as well. Then again, the boys had all been a little odd recently. She doubted any of the bandits had noticed, but she had. Of course she would notice a change in their behavior, after all she was their-

"ANYWAY." She blurted out. The bandits all exchanged confused looks, not sure why their Boss said that. "Who knows. Maybe Sabo told them he'd write to them?" She conjectured.

Mogra shook his head. "I don't think he had a chance to Boss. While I was ou- AH. When I was with Luffy, while you were gone he told me what happened with Sabo." He'd almost blurted out about taking Luffy out of the house while they'd been gone. He was glad he caught himself; Boss was already annoyed. He didn't want to make it worse.

He explained to others what Luffy had managed to tell him. About how they'd been collecting wood and then a noble had come looking for Sabo and kidnapped him and how it was so sudden.

They all let it sink in for a moment.

A bandit spoke up, asking, "So where did they go with that letter?"

Dadan thought about it for a moment before she shrugged. "Who knows? They're hurting real bad right now so probably someplace where they can be alone."

"So the treehouse then!" Another bandit suggested.

Dadan shook her head at that. "Probably not."

The bandit who'd suggested the treehouse asked, "Why not there?"

Dogra answered, "Like the Boss said. They're hurting really badly right now. I doubt they'd go to a place like that right now. It'd remind them too much of him."

"Ah... I see." The bandit accepted.

"This still doesn't explain how they knew that letter was for them..." Dogra muttered. Even though he muttered it, everyone heard him.

"Hmm. That's definitely strange. Based on what Mogra just told us, it's obvious they didn't have a chance to communicate about the letter. Well, maybe they had a previous agreement where if Sabo was taken back that he would write to them?" Dadan said. It was certainly possible. Those boys spent all their time together. Who knows what they spoke about.

"That might be the case. It's the only thing that would explain this..." Mogra agreed. Everyone was quiet as they mulled over the situation.

"I just feel so bad for the boys. Ace finally seemed happy for once in his life and the three of them were so close. And Sabo was such a nice boy." Dogra lamented. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and some mumbled as much.

The conversation ended there with the mood feeling heavy and the bandits all went back to what they were doing while they patiently waited for the boys to come back home.

Later that day, Dadan was considering whether or not to run down to Windmill Village to ask Makino's opinion on what to do. Dadan wasn't really sure what to do in this situation. She knew that the bandits and herself were all hurting from the loss of Sabo but she didn't know how to go about treating Ace and Luffy while they mourned.

She wandered over to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of booze, deciding that she was thinking too much about things. Damn those kids of hers- she chugged the rest of the bottle and grabbed another.

Nope. They were _not_ her kids dammit. She didn't know why she kept having those thoughts. She didn't give birth to them so they weren't _hers_. Yeah sure, she had raised Ace from basically birth, and yeah Luffy was basically helpless without someone looking after him, and sure Sabo fit in so well it seemed like he'd been around longer than he had.

That didn't make them hers though. Nope. Not all. She shook her head. Nuh-uh. A bandit asked her a question and she answered, not really paying attention. She was too busy thinking about the three brats.

Yeah, she'd yelled at Bluejam, that damn sea monkey, that she was their parent but, but she'd only shouted that in the heat of the moment. Yeah. That was it. She finished off this bottle and grabbed yet another one.

By that point, Sabo must have already been taken back to that noble father of his. It would explain his absence during the fire.

"What a rotten situation…" she mumbled. Three kids that the world had abandoned and they'd finally found a family in each other, only for _this_ to happen. Let her find out which noble it was. She'd give him a piece of her mind.

She wouldn't admit it out loud to the others, but she was kind of going to miss having all three of the brats around. It livened the place up in a way that just Ace and Luffy hadn't been able to.

"Hmph. Guess not anymore…" She ignored the looks her bandits were giving her and finished off the third bottle and was halfway into her fourth when she heard Luffy and Ace return.

"About *burp* damn time. Stupid brats. Still haven't *burp* healed yet. Shouldn't be wandering." She grumbled before standing up and heading towards the door, intending to give them a piece of her (inebriated) mind.

Before she could wobble over to the door, in walked Ace and Luffy.

Followed by Sabo.

Her jaw hit the ground, as did the jaws of the bandits. "S-S-SABO!" They collectively yelled in complete shock. Ace and Luffy continued walking as if they didn't hear them. Sabo acted like he didn't hear them either.

"B-But…how?!" Dogra shrieked. Ace and Luffy stopped then; they both turned and looked at him.

"'How' what?" Ace asked, clearly not understanding why everyone was acting so weird.

"Sabo! He's alive! How?!" Dogra responded, his expression still in shock.

"What are you talking about Dogra..?" Ace raised an eyebrow at him. Luffy tilted his head the way he does when he doesn't understand something. "Weirdo…" Ace mumbled under his breath.

"But Sabo's right there!" One of the bandits yelled while pointing directly at Sabo. Ace and Luffy looked in the direction he pointed before looking at each other.

"No one's there…" Ace said, flatly, his expression blank. It was obvious he was holding back whatever emotion was threatening underneath. The bandit shut up, not wanting Ace to snap at him.

Luffy looked at the floor, his mop of hair and familiar straw hat covering his face. "That's okay. We did the same thing too. We thought Sabo was there, and we even spoke to him." Luffy said quietly, an odd tone coloring his voice.

Some of the bandits exchanged looks, not sure what was going on. They felt bad. If they really were just seeing Sabo's ghost, then they felt bad for bringing it up since the boys couldn't see him. Especially so soon after he died.

Dadan's eye twitched. She wandered over towards 'Sabo', while drunkenly slurring "What're you talk'n 'bout? Dumb brats. 'Bo is righ' here." And as if to prove her point, she patted 'Sabo' (not gently) on his back.

'Sabo' reacted to being hit but he didn't make any noise. Being hit by the bigger woman caused his hat to fall off of his head, and he hurried to catch it before it hit the ground.

"Dadan. Why are you swinging your arm through the air like that...?" Ace asked, bewildered at Dadan's strange behavior. He raised an eyebrow at her action, a look of concern clear on his face.

"She must be getting old, Ace." Luffy 'explained', shrugging slightly. The accusation annoyed Dadan and she snapped at them.

"I AM NOT GETTING OLD! I've just had a few drinks dammit!" Dadan yelled at them, thoroughly irritated at the boys. And here she had been feeling sorry for them not too long ago. What a waste of her time. If this was how they were going to treat her. Ungrateful shitty brats. Why she outta-

"Oh, so that's what's going on. Everyone's drunk and seeing Sabo." Ace realized, thumping a fist against his other hand.

"Alcohol is already nasty. It makes people see things too? I am definitely never drinking when I'm older." Luffy made a face showing his displeasure at the thought.

Ace turned and started teasing him. "Idiot. Who's ever heard of a pirate that didn't drink? Told you, you won't make it as a pirate."

"I WILL TOO."

"WILL NOT."

"WILL TOO."

"WILL NOT."

"WILL TOO."

"THAT'S ENOUGH. STOP ARGUING." Damn, that Garp leaving her with a bunch of wild blooded kids. She was a bandit, not a daycare.

"Why should we listen to you? You're drunk and seeing ghosts." Ace stated pointedly before heading towards the second floor. Luffy followed him, but not before he stuck his tongue out at Dadan and said "What he said. Blehhh."

'Sabo' also followed them but only just smiled as he passed by Dadan and the others. No one moved as they watched Sabo slip into the boys' room just before the door closed.

Later that night Dogra tried calling the boys down for dinner but he didn't press when they didn't join them. He figured they were still upset about Sabo and Dadan's behavior earlier probably didn't help. He wished he could do something to help but unfortunately Dadan had drank even more alcohol than before the boys arrived home and she was at that point where he and Mogra couldn't afford to take their eyes off of her for too long.

When she reached this point she became very, very sentimental and would start rambling about things that she usually kept to herself. In the beginning, after Ace showed up, it was mainly complaining about Garp and Ace and how she wasn't a daycare. But more recently she'd begun crowing about Ace and hoping he would turn out alright, and being upset at how he felt about himself. (Every one of the bandits knew. Ace wasn't exactly subtle.)

He could only imagine what she'd talk about tonight, given Luffy's presence and the loss of Sabo. He was worried but a part of him was also slightly intrigued. He didn't voice any of his thoughts though because that was the rule when Dadan became this drunk: don't say anything about it and act like it never happened.

After a few burps, followed by a gurgle sound that he could only assume was meant to be a drunken giggle, Dadan started poking Mogra, while Dogra just watched. The rest of the bandits had already turned in for the night or they were making themselves scarce, leaving Look After Dadan duty to Dogra and Mogra alone. Dogra huffed, grumbled a bit and positioned himself in between the kitchen and Dadan, who was still poking Mogra.

"Hey. Hey. Yoo know wha' shucks?" Dadan slurred, letting out another burp, as she grabbed Mogra's arm, and not gently by the wince on his face. Dogra just smiled sadly at Mogra, both knowing that Dogra couldn't help him.

"Yoo know wha' shucks?" Dadan repeated, and without waiting for an answer, she said, "Those boys." Dogra and Mogra exchanged looks. They were both right in guessing that she would ramble about them tonight, but they were taken aback that she was saying the boys sucked.

"They really… really… it… really, really... shucks. Y'know?" Dadan stated, seemingly content that no one but herself was talking. She continued her conversation with herself.

"Those boys… shitty lives… and this… had to happen… Fucking dirty nobles… think they're better than everyone else. Just 'cause they got a li'l bit o' money? PEH. They're all ugly… as butt. So what does it matter? They wish they were gorgeous. Like me. Money can't buy pretty. Just look at Ace. Kids dirt broke and he's actually kind of cute." Dogra and Mogra had to stifle a snort. Of all the directions they expected her drunk rambling to take, calling Ace cute, wasn't one of them. They heard a stifled giggle come from the direction of upstairs and assumed that a certain pair of boys were eavesdropping.

Neither of them looked up though, not wanting to accidentally draw Dadan's attention to them. She was currently frowning, about what they didn't know, but they were sure to find out soon enough.

"Lu ain't a bad looking kid either. I ain't no cradle robber but a mother can brag when 'er kid's cute. 'specially if she got two of em. I had three but the third went and died." She burped a loud, long one.

"D'y'know he was starting to grow on me? 'Bo was. Sure, he was a brat like the other two, but I really started to feel like his was one of my rotten kids. Dammit. Why'd he have to go and die?" She started sniffling. "I hope nothin' happens to the other two. I dunno what I'd do…" Her sniffles were growing louder, and she was starting to snot a little bit.

"Stupid damn kids. Stupid damn nobles. Stupid damn Garp." At that point, she started full on crying. Dogra and Mogra had to cover their ears, being in such close quarters with her. Dogra thought he heard some other noise along with Dadan's crying but he couldn't make out what it was. Deciding to risk his hearing, he uncovered the ear furthest from Dadan and realized it was the sound of (loud) whispering from upstairs.

He really wanted to know what the boys were discussing but he couldn't leave Dadan, especially not while she was like she was. Luckily, he didn't have to worry about it for long, because soon the boys came downstairs, 'Sabo' included.

They stood before Dadan, not looking directly at her, acting nervous and rubbing their arms. They stood there silently for a few minutes before Dadan realized they were there. While looking down on the boys who were acting abashedly, all three which was strange, Dadan quieted her sobs.

That didn't last long however as she spoke to them. "I'm so sorry boys, but I can't help it. I see Sabo, and it really seems like he's here and I'm so sorry." She cried as she swiftly reached down and grabbed all three into a hug. They all struggled, trying to get out of her grip, and to avoid the tears (and snot) rolling down her face.

They finally managed to free themselves, and Dadan just plopped down, crying right in front of them. By this point, all five males were hoping she was so drunk she wouldn't recall any of this the next morning.

"Umm…Dadan…?" Ace asked hesitantly, looking more and more guilty as Dadan continued crying. She never answered him, and he wasn't even sure if she heard him, but he continued, "Umm, Dadan. We're sorry." The other two boys nodded their heads in agreement.

"Dadan. We're sorry." Luffy repeated his brother's words. Sabo stayed silent. Dogra and Mogra were staring at the boys, unsure about what they were talking about. Well, they had an idea.

"Dadan, we're sorry we played a trick on you guys." Ace told her, with Luffy supplementing a soft 'Yeah'. "Sabo… Sabo's not actually dead Dadan." He admitted to her.

Dadan had only been half listening, too drunk and drowned in her sorrows to hear much other than her own thoughts, but Ace's last words rung in her mind. It took a minute for it to really sink in before she had any sort of reaction.

When she did, it was just to simply quiet her wailings, and to stare at the boys in front of her in disbelief. The boys, for their part, looked utterly ashamed for pulling such a prank on her. Although the words had sunk in, the reality of those words hadn't, so Dadan still didn't quite believe them.

"What…was that?" She asked them, a look on her face that was somewhere between hopeful and forlorn. Ace bit his lip not really wanting to re-admit their guilt.

Sabo beat him to the bit, so Ace didn't have to. "Dadan, I'm not actually dead. We decided to play a prank on you guys. We didn't know you would take it this hard though… We're sorry." Sabo leaned forward slightly, while explaining.

Dogra and Mogra exchanged looks of joy and relief but as Dadan's facial expression hadn't changed they were hesitant to move from their spots to hug the boys in celebration. Like before, the words took some time to settle in. This time instead of waiting for reality to set in, Dadan slowly got to her feet and stepped forward, towards the boys.

They watched nervously, waiting for her to explode in anger and to take their anger out on them. Subconsciously all three of them, squeezed their eyes shut in anticipation of the punishment that was sure to befall them.

When, instead of a beating, they felt arms around their shoulders, they opened their eyes in shock. Like Dadan, it took a moment for them to register what was going on. Dadan was hugging them, gently. Her eyes closed, as her tears fell once more, this time tears of joy instead of sorrow.

"I'm so glad…" She murmured. Yeah, she knew how this looked. Yeah, it was completely out of character for her, but just this once. She didn't care. Her boys were all here, together, safe and alive. She didn't care that they played such a mean prank on her. She didn't care that two of her men were watching her. She didn't care about any of it.

Her boys were home.

They were completely startled by Dadan's actions and words. None of them were used to this treatment. Sabo's parents never showed any care for his wellbeing, only so far as his being alive and still able to be their heir. Makino had taken care of Luffy and he loved her like family but she didn't really seem like his mother, more like an older sister. Ace never had any sort of mother life figure. Yeah, Dadan had raised him but she'd never shown him any amount of care. Hell, he'd even overheard her cursing his existence on a number of occasions. And Garp… well Garp only worried about training them to be marines.

They were used to being reprimanded. They weren't used to this and they didn't know how to react, so they just stood there awkwardly and silent.

Eventually, Dadan released them and looked the three of them over. After a prolonged period of silence stretched on, Dadan spoke quietly. "Don't ever do something like that again. And no one speaks of this ever, am I clear?" The threat, while not in her tone, was clear.

All males present nodded their heads in swift agreement.

The six spent the rest of the night playing catch up and swapping stories, the boys explaining the letter and Sabo's story (while leaving out certain parts such as them being back in time) and the bandits (with assistance from Luffy and Ace) explaining what Sabo had missed.

Fin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for everyone who expected this story to be much longer. When I began this story, I had considered taking it further than where I did, but the problem with that is that if I did that, I couldn't see a stopping point in the story. And tbh, I actually hit a huge writers block during Sabo's flashback because I didn't have a stopping point I was working towards and I actually stopped working on the story for several months.  
>   
> Once I decided to make my stopping point Sabo giving Luffy back the telescope, I was finally able to finish the story, so I hope everyone understands where i'm coming from.  
>   
> I discussed with some of my friends about how this would probably disappoint a lot of you and they both suggested a sequel. And I didn't consider that before now, and I can't say for certain whether I will actually write a sequel or not, but it's on my list of ideas now so there's that.  
>   
> For anyone that wants to see more of my work, I do have more stories (both posted and in the works). Not all of them are on Ao3. Some are on FFN and some are on my writing tumblr. (I also draw and edit amvs ;D )  
>   
> Again, thank you to everyone who read this story and for giving it so much love! This story is my self-indulgent child and i'm so happy to see that others enjoy it so much!  
>   
> [Hope you enjoyed the bonus piece because I didn't want such a short chapter to be the end.]  
>   
>   
> __  
> Here's the order of events for the first few chapters since it was a little confusing.  
>   
> # the order in which I wrote the event  
> x I didn't write about  
> They are listed in the order that they actually happened  
>   
>  **Day 1**  
>  1 - Sabo Wakes Up  
> 5 - Luffy Wakes Up  
> 3 - Ace Wakes Up - Sparring  
> 2 - Garp Arrives  
> 2 - Sabo/Garp Talk  
>   
>  **Day 2**  
>  X - Garp Leaves  
> 4 - Ace realizes about Haki / Sabo/Luffy discuss the Grand Line  
> 6- Luffy Hugs his brothers  
> 7 - The Storm Hits / Luffy goes flying  
>   
>  **Day 3**  
>  Grey Terminal and onward from there...


End file.
